Scarlet Nova: A Fairy Tail SYOC
by Death Obelisk
Summary: An Ex-Wizard Saint leaves his job to set up a new guild for the sake of providing his daughter a place to call home. Watch as Scarlet Nova rises up to the challenge to become one of the best guilds in Fiore. A SYOC story. OC submissions are now closed. [DISCONTINUED. Please look out for the reboot]
1. Prologue

_Hi guys, sorry I have been AFK for so long. College life was so fast that it just caught up and I didn't have anytime to update my fics. But don't worry; I ain't giving up on them yet. If you enjoyed Fate Zero Survival, stay tuned because the next chapter is on its way already. For now, I will be writing something that has been stuck in my head for a while. I had been reading quite a few SYOC guild Fics and I thought let's have a go at it. Both FZS and this will be updated once weeks since the holidays are here for me, so YAY! So please give me lots of support and send in an OC character. Form will be located at the bottom of this chapter. Now on to it._

 **Prologue**

"So you're finally retiring eh?" Makarov asked the figure in front of him as they walked down one of the many hallways in the magic council building.

"Haven't you been pestering me for it, Pops?" The Figure responded with a chuckle without turning back. Compared to Makarov, this figure practically towered over him, standing at 6'5. He had a well-toned body from years of physical training and combat practice. His skin however was a deadly pale shade of white, something that he himself did not understand why. He looked as though he was still in his mid-thirties though his age was nearly double of that. Even so, he did not show any signs of fatigue and wrinkles, as though defying the laws of ageing. He had an angular face with silver mid-waist hair and a short untrimmed beard. His eyes were gold and piercing, able to fixate someone with fear should they stare too long into them. He donned a black exorcist's cloak that had a golden ornaments and fashioning along the sides. On the right side of his chest was the image of a silver flaming skull, a fitting image if anyone knew the type of magic he employed. This was accompanied by a set of white baddy trousers that were slotted into a pair of black steel toed boots. His wore a single black glove on his right hand that had ethereal chains coiled around it to act as a limiter for his magic.

"I don't want to be called Pops by you, Glaive. You're almost the same age as me." Makarov retorted. That day had started out as a regular meeting of the 10 Wizards Saints at the main council building in Ea. Most of the reports were quite standard. Some guilds being overly-destructive (you know who), dark guilds being more active and a whole bunch of other bullshit politics. The only surprise that came was the announced retirement of one of its members. He was one who commanded much respect even amongst the older members and members of the magic council itself. His departure was sure to be missed.

Glaive Heathcliff let out a small laugh. "Time sure passes quickly. I still recall the day when I was first sent here. So how's my daughter doing?"

"Oh Seras? Apart from breaking the guild walls every now and then, she's doing fine. She's made a lot of new friends, especially with Natsu and Gray although she's a few years younger than them." Makarov gave a wide smile in which Glaive responded with one of his own. "She will be dearly missed in Fairy Tail, Glaive."

"I know, but I think it's about time for me to settle down as well. I can't keep relying on you and your guild forever. It's time for me to start acting as a father and educate her properly." With that, Glaive let out a small sigh, something which did not go unnoticed by Makarov. It was hard to watch an old friend leave after all, having spent many years working together as a team.

"Daddy!" came a small squeal as a smaller figure ran up and tackled Glaive in the chest.

"Hi, sweetie," Glaive said as he held up his daughter with his arms, bringing a smile to her face as she laughed heartily. Seras was 10 years old then. She had short chestnut brown hair and wore a small hair clip that was her mother's last present for her. She had a slightly oval face with her eyes being the same color as her hair. She was dressed in a white tube dress that sported flower patterns and a pair of red sandals.

"So where are you headed to Glaive," Makarov asked. The other mage paused to think as he cradled his daughter before turning to look at Makarov.

"I was thinking of somewhere back near my hometown in Valgore. They don't have a guild there so why not. It would be a good place to get started." Glaive replied. He had wanted to set up his own guild for a while. A place for him and his daughter to return to. A place of fun, joy and laughter for everyone and anyone that joined. A second Fairy Tail.

"Well, it was pleasure knowing you Glaive. If you do ever need help, you know where we are, and always will be." Makarov gave a small sad smile as he extended his hand to Glaive.

Glaive has a sad smile on his face as well. As he extended his hand, the black Fairy Tail insignia on his arm shone once more for the last time. "Goodbye, old friend." He replied as he shook the hand of his former master and teacher. With that he turned and never looked back, not knowing he wouldn't see Makarov for almost another decade.

 **Present Day (10 Years Later)**

Welcome to Valgore, a town located up North of Magnolia beyond the snowy mountains of Mount Hakone. The town is a hotspot for most travelers because of the nature of it trade. While most towns traded in goods and fishery, this town specialized in the sale of magic items. Most aspiring mages usually gather in this town to discuss various forms of magic as well as to buy magical items to get started on their journey as a mage. The town is fairly large, almost twice the size of Magnolia. As such the population of the town is also by no means small, coupled by the large number of travelling mages; there is never a time whenever the town is not bustling with activity. As the town is always bustling with travelers, there are many small cafes and inns that line the streets of Valgore. Most of these buildings are at least two stories high to accommodate more people.

Despite the large number of travelling mages, there is only a single mages' guild in Valgore, named Scarlet Nova. The guild was founded only 7 years ago and is located in the middle of the town center, making it easily accessible from any side of town. The guild itself was modelled after an Italian Villa with brown tiled roofs and cobbled walls made of stone. It comprised of two separate buildings.

The first building was C shaped and faced the entrance of the guild. Large wooden doors served as the gates to the first building. Upon entry, one would be greeted with the sight of an open courtyard, surrounded by the buildings left and right wings which served as the dorms for members of the guild. This was the place whereby most mages would practice their magic given the open space and all. The dorms were also made of cobblestone, equipped with wooden stairs and amber colored light that shone brightly in the dark.

The second building was located further beyond the courtyard, connected by a walkway which spans from the center building of the dorms. The main guild building had a cozier interior that was lined with cobblestone and carpeted floors. The guild hall was naturally bright, having a ceiling made of reinforced glass lacrima though there were chandeliers of light lacrima hanging around when it got dark. It comprised of three floors though the third floor was out of bounds for all members except for the guild master and his family.

The first floor mainly served as pub for the members to drink and relax in, having been equipped with a bar and various tables and benches. To the far right of the guild hall was the request board that was framed in wood and covered in requests from various clients. Apart from the bar, there were two other smaller shops. One of them was a magic shop which specialized in the sale of magical items such as trinkets and lacrima. The second was an enhancement shop for mages to repair or upgrade their equipment. Both shops generated revenue from not only members but from travelers as well due to them being well known for quality and service in town.

Behind the bar was a staircase that led to the second floor. The second floor was basically an overhang that overlooked the first floor. It was mainly empty except for a few sofas and tables. To the back of the second floor was an office which was only accessible by the S class mages of the guild. In the room was a round table and chairs meant for their regular meetings and the walls around it were adorned with the portraits of all 5 members. Behind the end of the table was the mission board for the S-class missions though members had to report to the guild master before taking on any mission.

Glaive stepped forward as he watched his guild function from the second floor. This was exactly what he had pictured 7 years ago when he left the Magic Council. "Look Makarov, isn't this wonderful? If only you could be here to see this." Glaive thought to himself with a smile on his face. Scarlet Nova had grown from a small number of mages to a bustling center of activities, just like how it was when he first joined Fairy Tail.

A miniature explosion erupted somewhere below him, bringing him out of his thoughts. As he glanced over the railing, a small sigh to escape his lips. It seems that no matter where he went, the same things will always happen.

"GOD DAMMIT YOU IDIOTS! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID TO TAKE THINGS OUTSIDE!" he hollered at the culprit who apologized before bolting out of the guild hall. Yup, some things just don't change after all.

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _And that's the intro of the story for you. Hope you guys have enjoyed it. Just a reminder, this is an SYOC fanfic so please do send in an OC. Have fun creating your characters and kudos to you if you came up with a unique magic. This is the form I would like you guys to follow so please try to abide by it. On a side note, try not to post your OC in the reviews section cause it kinda spoils the fun for the readers. Submitting via PM will be best and this is a first come first serve basis, so send them quick since I will be only taking in about 20 characters XD_

 **OC Form**

 **Name:** (First and Last Name)

 **Age:** (Preferably between 12-35)

 **Gender:** (Male or Female. Sorry but I'm gonna have limit sexuality to being straight cause I'm not very good at writing Yaoi or Yuri stuff)

 **Personality:** (How do they treat others aka friends, enemies and guild members)

 **Appearance:** (Hair colors, skin color, build, height or anything prominent about them such as scars or beauty marks.Includethe attire your character wears for normal, sleeping and swimming at minimum. Be as descriptive as possible)

 **Guild mark location:** (Where and what color is their guild mark.)

 **Magic:** (No restrictions of what type of magic mainly but if I receive too many mages of the same magic type, I will only take the first two I receive. Also, I am limiting the number of slayers I'm taking. No Demon slayers please and if they are God slayers, please explain how they got their powers. Try not to have more than one type of magic. If you want a secondary magic, provide an explanation how they got it. If it's good, I will accept it. Your character does not need to use magic but can use magical items instead)

 **Equipment:** (What type of equipment your character will use. They can be without this as certain magics involve more of bare fist fighting)

 **S-Class:** (Whether you want your character to be S-class or not. If you think they should be S-class, provide an explanation why they should deserve it. As of now 4 slots are open because 1 is already reserved or my own OC. Once again first come first serve)

 **History:** (Pasts with canonical characters are accepted provided they are believable. Take note that the story starts after the 7 year time skip and that the guild was only founded 3 years before that)

 **Strengths:** (What makes them excel in combat)

 **Weaknesses:** (What may cause them to falter or fall)

 **Type of person they would fall for:** (No relationships with canonical characters please. Be descriptive about what they would like about their other half)

 **Hobbies:** (What do they do in their free time or something they are good at)

 **Stats:**

 **Attack Power: ?/5**

 **Defense power: ?/5**

 **Intelligence: ?/5**

 **Speed: ?/5**

(This follows the GMG stats sheet. You can't have like all 4s and 5s though because your character would be overwhelmingly powerful and I will reject it)

 **Mission Types:** (What missions they would be inclined to take. Will they rather take it alone or in a team?)

 **Living conditions:** (Where do they stay? Do they stay in the dorms or do they have a house somewhere else? Do they stay with any other guild members?)


	2. Meet the Teams: Part I

**A/N:** _Wow guys! It's been less than 24 hours and there are already so many OC submissions. Many thanks for the support. As a form of gratitude, here is the next chapter. For those that haven't sent any OCs in, don't worry. Submissions aren't closed yet. I wish I could have a few more lively characters though. Most of them are all too serious so far and way too cold. Some more males would be preferred as well XD_

 _For those that have reviewed, many thanks as well. I will be counting on you guys to help improve my writing and noticing all the little mistakes that I have missed._

 **Doom Marine 54:** _Well I am as excited as you are XD_

 **Martyn:** _I guess I will make an exception this time. Keep reviewing and supporting_

 **Grace of Flames:** _Hope you have enjoyed the chapter. Do send in your OC, slots are still open_

 **IdentityCrisis.03** : _Don't sweat it; if it helps the story I'm all go for it._

 **Sakura-Fiction:** _Yea, I have noticed the paragraphing error as well. Thanks for pointing it out. Don't worry about the OC selection though. Although it's first come first serve, I still review them to make sure all's good before accepting them XD_

 _On a side note, please do not use any of my or others OCs without permission. Nobody wants to see any of their characters getting stolen. I have seen it happen once and trust me; it did not end pretty well for either side._

 _For now all magics are still welcomed. All S-class spots have been currently filled so sorry guys. They'll just have to wait till the S-class exams to earn their title. Don't worry if your OC does not show up in this chapter or so. They will be evenly distributed over the few introduction chapters and I'll make sure they all get ample screen time._

 _With this, let's get this chapter rolling as well._

 **Credits**

 **Glaive and Seras Heathcliff – Death Obelisk**

 **Ryuga Altross – Death Obelisk**

 **Liliana Kringle - klbubblepop786**

 **Vali Hakuei – Death Obelisk**

 **Zephyr Damon – Carnation Cascade**

 **Vento Kagami - Martyn**

 _I don't own Fairy Tail, except my OCs_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Chapter 1**

Glaive Heathcliff walked down the stairs leading from the third floor of the guild house. The sun had just risen but he was already awake. It was a habit that he had developed from young and continued to maintain it till now. Sleep early and rise early as they always say. Through the glass ceiling, pale streaks of the early sun's rays shone through the guild hall, bathing it in a warm soothing light. The guild hall which was once bustling with activities was now an eerie quiet. The members of the guild were either out or were still asleep. It was during this time that Glaive have some peace and quiet to reflect upon the past, present and future.

"Morning Father," a familiar voice brought Glaive out of his musings and he turned to smile at the direction of the voice. "Morning, Seras. I believe you slept well,"

"Yep!" Seras replied with a smile of her own. Seras had changed much over the past 10 years. Gone was the small and adorable girl who could barely speak. She was now an attractive young woman. She grew out her originally short brown hair and had cut it into a flare cut. Gone were her brown eyes that were filled with just innocence, now replaced with vigor and experience. She had a fairly broad shouldered torso, yet maintained a very voluptuous and buxom figure. Her cream colored skin was covered with a white blouse and blue skin tight jeans that went well with her black boots. Her electric blue guild mark, which was in the shape of a wing with four feathers extending from an orb, was clearly visible on her collarbone, something that she sported with pride.

Like Glaive, Seras was also an early riser. She preferred the mornings compared to any other time of the day. After all, it was the only time that she could practice her magic without any distractions or hindrances. During the day, she served as the attendant at the bar as well as the person in charge of handling requests. By the time night fell, she was already too exhausted to try and practice her spells.

"Anything new?" Glaive asked as he walked towards his daughter who was currently holding up a sensory lacrima.

"Nope, nothing is showing up on the scanner." Seras replied as she gazed into the lacrima. The guild had recently received reports of bandit activities in the woods behind them. As the only mages guild present in town, Glaive took it upon himself to line the city gates with sensory lacrima. Just in case they got way too close for comfort. "They probably left already. That report was over a week old Father."

"That may be true but let's just keep it up for a bit longer. I don't want to threaten the lives of anyone in this town." Glaive had a hardened expression on his face. Ex-wizard saint or not, it was still a Guild Master's job to keep the guild, its members and the city safe.

"Morning Father! Morning Sis!" a cheery voice echoed over the stairwell, causing the tense atmosphere to break. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and both Seras and Glaive turned their heads. The owner of the voice was a short boy with spiky blond hair that was currently messy as a result of him waking up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, revealing one to be bright red while the other to be green. He had pale skin and was quite thin, such that his ribcage was starting to show slightly. He was in a worse shape when Glaive found him on the streets but was now on the way to a speedy recovery. He was currently dressed in a plain white shirt and beige colored Arabian shorts. He didn't wear any shoes, preferring to go about barefooted.

"Morning Vento!" Seras replied with a smile while Glaive went up to rub the younger boy's head, something which brought a smile to Vento's face. The boy had only joined a year ago but Glaive had taken a liking to him already. As Vento was an orphan, Glaive decided to take him under his wing and treat him like his own family, something that the boy agreed with joy. He was currently staying in the same quarters as Glaive and Seras.

"Are you hungry?" Seras asked as Vento climber onto one of the stools located at the bar table. There was no need to answer as Vento's stomach spoke for itself, causing the boy to let out a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head.

"What would you like to eat?" Seras was already sorting through the pantry for ingredients when Vento's answer came in. "Anything's fine. Sis' cooking all tastes so good!" Seras chuckled slightly under her breath, deciding to fry Vento some scrambled eggs and French toast. She made an extra reminder to herself to make it in larger portions. While it may not seem like it, boy can Vento eat.

"By the way Seras, are there any teams scheduled to return today?" Glaive looked at his daughter who was busy cracking eggs to make the batter.

"If I remember correctly, Ryuga's team should be en route already. Their mission was completed as of yesterday according to the report they sent in via lacrima transmission." Seras had a finger against her cheek as she tried to recall the details.

Glaive paled slightly at the mention of the team. They were the perfect embodiment of Natsu's team in Scarlet Nova. While the S-class mage amongst them was to keep them in line, time and again has he proven to be ineffective in keeping his team mates in check but joining them in their bouts of destruction as well. He really hoped that everything went off without a hitch this time. At this rate, he was going to be in debt with the amount of property damage they were causing.

Still, it took less than a day to travel back to Valgore from Hargeon since there was the train and all. "I wonder what's keeping them?"

 **Hargeon Port**

"Err what was I doing again? Said female was currently standing in the middle of Hargeon port with her hands on her hips. She was pretty sure she came here for a reason but she just couldn't remember why. She had short purple hair that reached down to about her neck and was of average height standing at 5"6. She had slightly pale skin and a rather voluptuous figure. Her bright red eyes were currently furrowed as she tried to recall why she was there. She was currently wearing a grey short-sleeve blouse, a red medium-length simple skirt over a pair of shorts, and a pair of short lace-up embroidered shoes with heels that flashed red and black. A wolf collar necklace and a bowler hat acted as the finishing touches to her get up, the whole ensemble being coordinated in pale gray and dark red.

While her face and expression did not show it, she was racking her brains out internally. "Calm down Liliana. You've got this. Just try and recall what Ryuga said."

Slowly she began to piece together the details of what happened since yesterday. Her team completed the mission yesterday. The client was happy. The council was not. Someone was arrested. And then. And then…

"What are you doing, Lil?" a voice broke her out of her chain of thoughts, just as she started to recall something important. Usually she would have given that person a glare but she recognized the voice so she settled with her usual poker face.

"Hey Vali, what's up." She replied in a monotone voice as she turned to face him. Compared to her, Vali dwarfed her in height, standing at 6'3. Vali had midnight black hair that was short and spikey, complemented by an overall angular face with a slightly tanned skin tone with onyx colored eyes. For clothing, he wore a skin tight black body armor that covered his chest and has silver runes inscribed on it. He also wore metal plated shoes and a pair of black trousers with three belt straps located near the knee region. On top of that, there was a red overcoat that covers his arms and upper torso, fashioned and tied with an agemaki knot. The coat is also attached to his hips, designed like a skirt to cover his waist and legs. On his back, he carried a staff like weapon that sprouted six black blades with red orbs embedded in each of them from either end of the staff.

"What are you talking about?" Vali gave her a puzzled look before coming to his own conclusion. He had almost forgotten. Liliana had the memory of a gold fish. Do not bother even asking her anything at all as she probably wouldn't recall anything. If you got an answer out of her, be sure to check twice with others, or else you may be thrown into a loop for all you know. As in this scenario, she had completely forgotten what she was doing here which was a good thing he went after her anyway.

"Don't you remember Lil? We're here to find Ryuga remember? We have to tell him that Zephyr has been arrested by the magic council!" Vali exasperated at her while all the time, Liliana just stood there with an emotionless expression as she let Vali's words sink in.

"Oh!" Liliana's expression brightened slightly, her fist smacking into her other open palm as she finally managed to connect all the dots together. Vali just sighed inwardly as he face palmed. Sure, trust the birdbrain to complete a simple job that she VOLUNTEERED to do. Then again, having worked with her for almost 3 years, he should have known better than to let her do it alone.

"So do you know where he is?"

"Nope."

That almost caused Vali to face palm yet again. Great, she even forgot where Ryuga was.

The day before when the team completed the mission, Ryuga mentioned about taking a stroll around the city and told Vali to watch over the other two mages Things went well for the first half an hour or so with Vali making sure neither of them was causing trouble. That was until the army came right straight up and surrounded them. Zephyr was arrested and taken away while Liliana instantly volunteered to go and find Ryuga, claiming that she knew where he was. Before he could clarify anything, both of them were gone in a flash and he stood there dazed.

"This time, we're gonna find Ryuga together. You stay within my sights ok?" Vali sighed as he stared at Liliana who nodded fervently. Hargeon was by no means a small town. That meant that this was going to take some time. It also meant that he had better start coming up with a reason to avoid getting screwed over by Ryuga.

 **Random Alley**

"What the hell was that punk!" the gangster glared at the figure before him, the rest of his group laughing menacingly. The kid who was currently being held hostage by them had red swollen eyes from crying and was whimpering silently. He did not dare to make a noise since there was a knife to his neck and was currently dangling in midair, held up by one of the goons.

"I said let the kid go." The figure reiterated, his voice calm and composed despite being faced with several armed men. They were all currently in one of the back alleys of the Hargeon port. Said figure was just travelling around aimlessly when he found the group of them threatening the kid. "You guys don't own this street and the kid just got lost. So drop it and let the kid go."

"Maybe you should shut the hell up and mind your own business!" The lead thug rushed towards said figure as he threw a punch. The figure just simply dodged with ease, instead using the man's weight against him. He grabbed the outstretched arm with one hand and swung the man through the concrete building on the left, causing the wall to collapse. The other thugs stared gob-smacked with jaws agape at the strength the man displayed and the one holding the kid instantly loosened his grip. The kid immediately ran for cover behind said figure much to the dismay of his captors.

"Go on kid. You're only in the way." The figure scowled as he prepared for the impending fight. The kid instantly took it as his cue to leave, muttering a word of thanks before running off. As the concrete wall crumbled further, the rays of light from the sky shone onto the figure, giving his opponents a better look at him.

The figure had an angular face as well as a tall and athletic build, standing at 6'7 tall. His crimson colored eyes went well with the silver spiky hair he sported but the pink scar that ran down his left eye stood out like a sore thumb. His beige colored skin was covered by a black shirt with a skull imprinted on it and dark brown slacks that were tucked into black combat boots. A chain extended from one of the pockets to his belt region and an ember crystal necklace hung from his neck. A grey twin tailed coat with a hood was worn over the set and his hands donned black fingerless gloves. For those that knew him, he was one to be respected. For those that didn't, his name and reputation spoke for themselves.

"It…it…it's…its Sparda! Sparda Ryuga!" one of the thugs stammered out upon recognizing the S-class mage causing the rest of them to begin to cower in fear.

Ryuga just cracked his knuckles and neck as he stared down the thugs. "Told you to let the boy go when you had the chance."

"W...W…What's there to be afraid off..., he's only one man and there are 8 of us. We can take him." Another thug stuttered out as he tried to steel himself and his comrades. Although it obviously wasn't working given how his knees were knocking and wobbling. Ryuga just sighed at the futile attempt. Once you gave into fear, the fight's all over.

"G…GE…GET HIM!" all at once the thugs all rushed at Ryuga, brandishing swords and one a magic gun. All the while, Ryuga just stood still, waiting for his opponents to come to him. The first and second thugs slashed vertically downwards with their swords at Ryuga who grabbed their wrist instantly and snapped them. As they howled in pain, Ryuga grabbed their heads and slammed them each into an opposite wall. The third thug that came slashing tried to aim for Ryuga's neck, only for him to get back flipped by the arm into the waters of the port. Picking up the sword dropped, Ryuga used its handle to bash into the skulls of the next two thugs before they even had a chance to move. The one armed with the magic gun chose at this moment to fire, thinking that he could hit Ryuga at close range.

"Naïve," though Ryuga as he used the edge of the sword to curve the trajectory of the bullet before flinging it back into the muzzle of the gun. The magic gun instantly exploded and knocked the thug out cold. The last thug stood alone, surrounded by the battered bodies of his friends. Realizing that he simply did not stand a chance, he turned tail and ran in the opposite direction of the alley.

Only to hit a steel pole at the end of it.

"So here you are Ryuga," came a voice behind the pole. From either end of the alley emerged Vali and Liliana, with Vali quickly sheathing his weapon.

"Oh, it's you guys. How did you find me?" Ryuga asked as he walked over to greet his two teammates.

"Well, we were in the vicinity when we heard sounds of a fight going on we decided to investigate. We were planning to help but guess you didn't need it." Juliana replied in a monotonous voice as she surveyed the scene.

Ryuga just shrugged. He was fine on his own at times, but when it came down to it he always preferred having his three teammates backing him up. Wait, three teammates?

"Where's Zephyr?"

"About that," Vali begin to smile sheepishly and even Liliana's eyes turned to dots. Both of them began to sweat profusely, knowing what was coming next. "he was arrested by the council."

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

 **Council Courtroom In Hargeon**

"Will the accused please step forward?" came the voice of the council member as he addressed the man before him.

"Tch," the man had an annoyed look on his face as he stood up from his chair and walked to the platform in front of him. He fiddled with the magic restraining cuffs that were bound to fists and legs, annoyed by the fact that they were too tight and that he couldn't move much. He was of average height with a rather slim build, standing at an even 5'7. He had golden spiky hairy that was being held by a black headband with the word speed in kanji along with two strands of hair that extended out from his forehead. His eyes were blue like the sky and a pair of blue googles with silver trimmings hung from his neck. He wore an electric blue sweat shirt that had yellow streaks of lightning across the sleeves and pair of identical running pants, coupled by the storm blue sneakers on his feet. The blue guild mark on his cheek was also a match to his outfit; giving people the feeling he was a racer which was an indicative of his magic.

"Zephyr Damon, I believe?"

"Yessir," Zephyr zipped back a reply before the council member could finish his sentence.

"You are hereby on trial for the crimes that you have committed when you abused your identity as a mage of Scarlet Nova," Zephyr just yawned in disinterest, looking around the room for something to do. A tick mark grew on the council member's head as he glared at the mage but continued nonetheless. "Your crimes are as follows."

"The ignition of the streets..."

"The aftereffect of my magic."

"The outrage of modesty of two girls…"

"Not my fault, their skirts were in the way. Too bad they weren't all that hot."

"The damage of property…"

"The idiot jumped into the building and wouldn't come out, so I had to bring the building down."

"ENOUGH!" the council member finally snapped, causing Zephyr to just grin with a shrug of his shoulders. "I hereby sentence you to…"

Once again the council member was interrupted. Not by Zephyr this time but by the shattering of the glass roof with someone yelling "GETOUTOFTHEWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!"

There was a small explosion of dust as something hit the floor of the court room, obscuring everyone's vison temporarily. When the dust settled, it revealed a barely conscious Vali at the bottom of the pile, Ryuga in the middle and Liliana sitting right on top both of them, still holding a poker face with her hand raised up. "We have arrived."

That got Zephyr into a laughing fit. "Now that's what I call an entrance."

It also got the councilmember into a fit. "Who the hell are you guys!" he demanded as the rune knights already began to flood the room.

"Remind me to kill you later Lil," Ryuga growled under his breath. "We are members of Scarlet Nova and we are here to prove our teammate's innocence."

"Wha…?" The council member was cut off, again, as Ryuga shoved the request sheet into his face. "In accordance to magic law, article 12, line 5, any mage carrying out a request cannot be held liable for trial in the event of any form of crime committed except the involvement and murder of innocents."

"Bu..Bu..Bu.." the council member stuttered out. "If that's all, we'll be taking our teammate and leaving, sir" Ryuga emphasized the last part through gritted teeth, indicating he was at the end of his patience already. There was way too much bullshit today and he was not going take this any further. The council member, as though understanding his intentions, gave a weak nod.

"Yeah yeah hurry up," Zephyr demanded as the rune knights reluctantly released the cuffs on his arms and legs.

'WOOOHOOO! FREEDOM!" Zephyr hollered as he immediately began running loops and loops around the room. He was in such a blur that almost no one dared to move in fear of colliding into him. Once he got over his enthusiasm, he returned to his teammates, attempting to thank them.

"Let's get out of here! I'll bring us to the train station in a jiffy!" he declared with zeal, his hands already grabbing Liliana and Ryuga who had slung an unconscious Vali over his shoulder.

"NO…!" Oh well, their voices came too late.

"Speed magic: Line Drive" In an instant, all four mages were gone, leaving an astounded council member and team of rune knights.

Seconds later, all four members arrived at the station. Apart from Zephyr, the other three were green with nausea. Liliana and Ryuga were already bending over, ready to hurl any second.

"Cheh, its your faults for not having weak stomachs," Zephyr smirked as he held his hands behind his head.

Despite the nausea, Ryuga still found the strength to plummet Zephyr to the ground with a fist.

"You have a lot of nerve you runt!" Ryuga growled out with whatever strength he had left. "This. Is. All. Your. Fault."

"Erm, whoopsie," Zephyr chuckled as he bonked himself on the head, but that smile very soon turned into a frown as he saw Ryuga's fist descending again.

From all across Hargeon, the pitiful cries of a man in extreme pain echoed throughout the city.

May God have mercy on his soul.

 **A/N:** _Well that's the first chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	3. Meet the Teams: Part II

**A/N:** _Whoosh! Another chapter is out XD_

 _This fic has been fun to write thus far. I just keep having the urge to write more and more with all the OCs you guys keep sending in. Many thanks people!_

 _OC submissions are finally closed so don't send me anymore OCs unless I have PMed you that you can._

 _Once again, thank you all my reviewers. Your efforts have helped make it easier and more enjoyable for me to write this chapter._

 **Reven228:** _Its cool man, I have a few attack ideas that will go well with him_ _Thanks for your support!_

 **W. R. Winters:** _Thanks man! Me too!_

 **Origm2012:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter_ _For more of the Glaive's history, keep reading XD_

 **Fairy Lori:** _Yup, Zephyr's rescue was my favorite part to write as well_

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Haha, looks like Glaive's relations ain't gonna help much now._

 **MadmissY01:** _Thanks for the support XD_

 **Martyn:** _Don't mention it_

 **Credits**

 **Aiden Cross – Ishiguro**

 **Asuna Lockheart - madmissY01**

 **Blitz Alibaster – Novachrono**

 **Hanaku "Golden Crown" Aerolock – Taliaem**

 **Coraline Angiozon – Arclin**

 **Nerys Darlie - IdentityCrisis.03**

 **Kozmotiz Killian - W. R. Winters**

 **Hikari and Yami Eien - Sora no Kagayaku Tsubasa**

 **Padme Juniper – Fairy Lori**

 _I don't own Fairy Tail, except my OCs_

 _Enjoy!_

 **The Guild Courtyard**

"Seras, if you would please." The man that spoke had a tall figure, standing at 6'3" with a toned and athletic build from years of training. He had neck-length black hair save for blonde highlighted fringes at the front and bright amber eyes. Said eyes were currently being covered with a white blindfold though for training purposes. He also wore a white sweater that was currently unzipped to reveal a black V-neck shirt underneath. A pair of black jeans and brown boots finished the attire. What stood out of place though were the two small golden bells that were hooked onto his waist pocket.

"Ok, Aiden. Here goes." Seras closed her eyes and inhaled in a deep breath as she began to concentrate her magic power. Usually there was no need to do but given that the request was something of a larger scale, it was best that she had the extra concentration. A golden magic circle of gigantic proportions formed over her right hand as she finalized her preparations and called out the spell.

"Terraforming: Stone Labyrinth" Jagged rocks and cliff surfaces began to erupt all around Aiden. Some were relatively short whereas others towered like huge trees in the forest, obscuring the sunlight in the sky to a certain degree. They all came in different shapes too, such that no two regions bore any resemble to one another. When the spell was complete, the entire courtyard was engulfed in in an ethereal stone barrier and in the middle of it stood Aiden.

Seras dropped to a knee when she finished the spell. It had taken more than expected out of her. Guess she still had ways to go before she could start using larger scale spells. Seras reached into her brown knapsack that was on the ground and pulled out a golden lacrima. Pressing it slightly, she then hurled it right over the gap in the Stone Labyrinth. The lacrima then expanded ever so slightly and a timer which read "15 minutes" was projected out, counting down as the seconds went by.

The timer wasn't for Aiden though, but for the three other mages that were in the Labyrinth with him.

"Alright you guys! You have 15 minutes, so make every attack count!" Aiden called out. Although he couldn't see them, he could feel three pairs of eyes bearing down on him.

The first mage was located in a cave to the North of Aiden's position. This mage was named Blitz Alibaster and he was 25 years old, the oldest in the team. He was slightly taller than average, bearing a height of 5'8. He had raven colored hair and piercing dark crimson eyes that compliment his sharp looking features and clean- shaven face. He sported a deep black cloak with sharp white fringes around his shoulder with an unbuttoned black dress shirt underneath. Below that are casual looking jeans slightly tweaked to allow freer range of leg movement with a slick black belt which bears many small knifes and needles hanging off it. He also wears a fedora on his head with the outfit ending with steel tipped jet-black combat boots.

"My dear ladies, can you hear me?" Blitz asked as he placed a hand to the communications lacrima in the form of an earpiece, while his other hand tinkered with explosive lacrima. "Standby for battle in 30 seconds."

"Asuna here. Message received loud and clear." Asuna Lockheart spoke as she received the transmission from Blitz. She was currently located Far East from Aiden, the furthest among the three of them. Not that it really mattered. She was currently perched on a high cliff surface and that suited her magic just fine. Asuna was 5'2 feet tall with blue hair cut into a flare cut that reaches her shoulders. She had dark pink eyes and tanned skin which was covered by a swath of purple bandages that covered her breasts and a black leather jacket over them. She also wore a gray set of jeans that left her right leg and the scars on it completely exposed as well as a pair of white combat boots. Apart from that, she also had on a silver bracelet that was worn over her arrow-shaped birth mark as well as an equipped fortified bow that was black and had short curved blades on the ends.

The lacrima that she had settled down next to her glowed slightly as liquid silver poured out of it. "Silver-Make: Arrow" Asuna commanded and the silver instantly gathered and solidified to form two gleaming silver arrows. In a swift motion, she loaded both of them into the bow, knelt on one knee and cocked it, aiming in the general direction Aiden was in. "Target in sight. How are things on your end Hanaku?"

"First off, call me by name instead Blitz. Next, quieten down. He's way too close." Hanaku whispered as softly as she could into the communication lacrima. She was the closest to Aiden, standing just a few feet behind him with the cover of a rock face. She had an average height but curvy figure, standing at 5'5 with a rather decent bust size and long legs for someone her height. Her hair was cherry red, extending to mid-waist length with the tips of them in curls. Her eyes were a midnight blue and had peach colored skin that was covered in tan lines. She was currently wearing a silky pink and white mixed kimono that goes to her waist with pink lotuses on it. Under her kimono she wore white tights that went all the way to her ankles while her shoes were white flats that fit her feet perfectly. Currently she was also wearing a golden tiara and a blue collar with the number 4 imprinted on it. Quietly, she unlimbered her dual halberds and sent magic flowing through them, causing them to hum with power. "On three," she whispered as she crept closer, trying to make as little noise as possible. "One,"

"Two," Came Asuna's reply

"Three!" Blitz cried as he vanished from his position in the cave, reappearing over Aiden. "Take this, Bombing Rain!" he yelled as he hurled handfuls of explosive lacrima at Aiden. The lacrima detonated simultaneously, causing a chain explosion all around Aiden. Aiden as though knowing that the attack was coming instantly jumped into the air to avoid the explosives. He cocked his fist back, attempting to strike down Blitz who was still in midair. Blitz smirked as he winked out of existence again, this time reappearing on the ground. Aiden's swing went wild, smashing the rock face nearby but missed Blitz completely.

Asuna chose at that moment to fire her arrows. Unlike normal arrows, these silver arrows were like guided missiles, controlled by Asuna's silver manipulation. They dodged all the rubble that came with the smashed rocks, both aiming straight for Aiden. Or more precisely his belt with the two bells attached. Unfortunately for her, both her arrows missed their marks. One was deflected with a kick by Aiden and landed on the ground nearby while the other was grabbed by his outstretched palm and crushed. "Perfect," thought Asuna upon sensing the crushed silver arrow. "Silver-make: Silver Storm" she commanded.

The silver dust that was floating in the air around Aiden instantly began to change their forms into that of needle like silver darts. All of them instantly targeted Aiden and swarmed towards him, fully intent on skewering him.

"Herculean Strength: Activate" An immense blue and white aura exploded out of Aiden's body, coating him in a cloak of pure energy. The surge of aura was so intense that it instantly blew apart the silver darts and the rocks around him. "Tch!" Asuna instantly commanded for the silver to return to her, or what's left of it. She was going to need a better plan.

Luckily for her, her teammates had already come up with one. "Saber Buster!" Hanaku cried out as she spun her twin halberds while rushing towards Aiden. A cyclone of ice and fire formed at each halberd and she swung them with great ferocity at Aiden who had just landed on the ground. Despite the additional strength and propulsion her magic gave the weapons, Aiden still managed to block her twirls and slashes using his bare hands. He deflected them with ease, using only slightest movements to avoid them or block them. Eventually, Aiden just grabbed both of the halberds by their blades, causing Hanaku to struggle to free them.

"Giving up?" Aiden asked in the general direction of Hanaku.

"Nope!" Hanaku declared as she coursed magic through the halberds once again.

"Frostfire Zap!" A violet bolt of lightning fired from the gap between the halberd blades, hitting Aiden square in the chest. While it was a direct hit, it did almost no damage to him. It merely surprised him, causing him to drop both of Hanaku's weapons and take a step backwards.

Right into Blitz' gravity lacrima.

Aiden instantly felt the left side of his body hit the ground as it was affected by the gravity manipulating lacrima, leaving only his right arm free to move.

"It's over, Aiden. We win," Blitz declared as he dropped from his position on a rock surface, having drawn the combat knife hanging from belt. Both Hanaku and he began walking to the trapped Aiden, thinking that they had won.

Well, big mistake.

"Nice try you two," Aiden commended them, causing a puzzled look to appear on both their faces. "but you are underestimating me." Both mages watched with widening eyes as they saw the blue and white aura begin to concentrate around Aiden's free arm. Compared to before, this aura seemed more volatile, straining to escape from his fist. Asuna's eyes also widened as she recognized the spell. She barely had enough time to say run when Aiden made his move.

"BIG BANG IMPACT!" Aiden roared as he brought his arm down onto the ground. The resulting effect was an enormous aura explosion that consumed everything in the vicinity. The rocks, trap, Blitz and Hanaku were all instantly blown away. Both mages hit the earth hard as their bodies continued to tumble from the impact. Hanaku stopped tumbling first, her kimino now badly shredded and body badly bruised. She breathed heavily as she felt the wind knocked out of her lungs, desperately taking in deeper breaths. Blitz had his tumbling stopped by a rock surface, slamming hard into it which caused him to cough furiously. When the dust settled, there was a large crater where Aiden was standing and the surrounding earth was charred black from the explosion as well.

"Shit," Asuna thought to herself as she began to reform another silver arrow. She was the last member of their team still standing and she had to make her shot count. However before she could even fire a shot, a giant stalagmite was hurled in her direction and destroyed the platform which she stood. Asuna instantly lost her balance and she fell head first off the cliff surface. Disoriented, she tried to get up, only to see a blindfolded yet grinning Aiden staring at her. At that same moment, the lacrima timer buzzed, indicating the end of the 15 minutes.

"Time's up!" Aiden declared with a grin on his face as he removed his blindfolds. Asuna just glared at him before turning away. She was honestly very disappointed with herself. She thought that they would get him this time.

Upon hearing the buzzer sound, Seras released her magic. The giant labyrinth of stone instantly disintegrated into blue dust, dispersing to reveal three battered mages and a grinning S-class mage.

"Vento help me out here," Seras called out into the guild house. The boy came running a minute later, carrying wet towels and ice packs. Vento then proceeded to distribute them to the injure mages.

"Thank you," Hanaku said as she took an ice pack and pressed it onto the bruise near her cheek. That was definitely going to leave a mark.

"Thanks kid," Blitz grunted out. Not that he was trying to be rude but he could swear he felt something broken in his ribs, causing him to sound more gruff than usual.

"Are you ok, Asuna?" Seras crouched next to the Silver-make mage as she attended to her wounds personally.

"I'm fine Seras, don't worry." Asuna reassured Seras with a warm smile on her face. While Asuna was usually emotionless, the only person she really opened up to was Seras, having grown up side by side with her over the past 5 years. Though not related by blood, they looked after each other like sisters.

"Alright you guys! Listen up!" Aiden clapped his hands to get the attention of the three mages around him. Three pairs of eyes then turned to face their leader and teacher.

"Once again, none of you came close to stealing the bells from me. But I have seen major improvements in all of you. Blitz, you have understood how to compensate for your lack of offensive magic but you will need to learn how to deploy those lacrima more effectively. Hanaku, nice teamwork and coordination with Blitz. You also have better control of your halberds now. However, your strikes still lack the necessary strength to deal damage. Asuna, your silver manipulation has also shown signs of improvement but you should have noticed that your silver got mixed with gun powder when they reformed, giving away your location. Keep up the improvement guys!" Nods came from all three members of Aiden's team as they picked themselves up and began to return to their respective homes to rest.

 **In the Guild Hall**

"Is it very bad Doc?" Blitz asked the doctor currently examining him. They were currently in Scarlet Nova's medical bay. It was just a simple room located on the other side of the spiral staircase on the first floor. It contained a bed for patients to lie on and various medical instruments and herbs which were stored in shelves and bottles.

"Don't worry about it Blitz, it's just a broken rib. I'll have it re-attached in a second." The doctor's name was Coraline Angiozon but was widely referred by the members of Scarlet Nova s Doc or Cora. She was also the head of Scarlet Nova's medical team. She had dark red-purplish hair in a wavy faux hawk hairstyle, the color highlighting her pale red eyes. Her skin tone was a natural cream color and was of average height, standing at 5'3. That didn't stop her from having an hourglass figure though. She was currently wearing a grey skin-tight shirt that showed off her red guild mark and cleavage. This was accompanied by black leather boots, torn knee socks with light blue and dark blue stripes and a black miniskirt. She would usually wear a red leather jacket on top but currently she wore a white lab coat, as per standard protocol for treating patients.

Coraline placed her hand over the bruised area of Blitz's chest, casting her spell. "Surgeon Magic: Thoracopexy!" A white glow shone over the area where her hands were and when she removed them, the swelling and bruising had subsided.

"All done. Try not to exert yourself too much over the next few days," she reminded with a smile of her face as she turned to pick some herbs to help Blitz recover his strength.

"Thanks Doc, I owe you one." Blitz thanked Coraline as he continued to put his shirt back on. Coraline just merely smiled back, glad that the mage was feeling better already.

"Wow! The décor here is so exquisite!" exclaimed a voice that came in from the entrance of the guild hall. There stood a girl with almond shaped eyes that were colored a bright amber, along with black hair that's styled into two low buns with a blunt-cut fringe. Her complexion was naturally quite pale with a healthy-looking glow. Standing at about 5'8 she had a slender build with average curves. A noticeable feature was the beauty spot just above the corner of her lip on the right side. She was wearing simple white singlet worn underneath a traditional red kimono jacket with a black obi belt. She's also dressed in a pair of black jeans and black slip-on shoes. Her arms though were wrapped all the way with bandages from the fingers to the elbows. She was currently scribbling and sketching diagrams into a worn out sketch book.

"Hi there, my name's Coraline and this is Blitz. Can we help you?" Coraline asked the newcomer who immediately paused what she was doing and went forward to shake her hand.

"Hi, my name is Nerys. It's nice to meet you." Nerys explained enthusiastically. "I was just passing by you're the town when I noticed that the building has such a unique architecture. I just couldn't help but stop by and take a look. I have a thing for exquisite building design."

"Well, I guess you're in luck." Blitz stated with a smile on his face. "Welcome to the guild Scarlet Nova, the best guild in the country." He declared proudly.

"OH MY GOD!" Neyrs squealed in delight. "So this is the famous guild I have heard about? That's so cool! That probably explains the rich design of the building. So this is what a famous guild looks and feels like!"

"We are open to people joining, though you will have to wait till Master Glaive gets back. He's currently out on an errand." Coraline explained which led to claps of glee from Neyrs. "I'm so honoured and excited to join Scarlet Nova. Though I think I will be even more excited to explore this place further."

This caused sweat drops to fall from Blitz's and Coraline's heads, though they didn't judge her for it. After all, a new mage to the guild would definitely make the place more lively and fun to be with.

 **Random Dark Guild HQ**

"Spill it! Where are the catacombs!" Said mage demanded at the older man. He was currently in the midst of an interrogation/torture session with his victim currently chained against a stone pillar, using the same chains he used to attack the mage earlier. The mage was somewhat tall with his 6'2" height with a slim, slender, but muscular build. He had very pale skin with a tattoo of an eye in the center of his forehead. His eyes were violet in color though the left one was currently obscured by an eyepatch. Lines of dark purple tattoos decorated all over his body which seems to follow his veins. His hair was of a very dark shade of violet, causing most to assume its black it's long enough to go to his shoulders so he slicked it back and tucked his hair behind his slightly pointed ears. He had a good sense of style, wearing a slim fitting dark purple suit with a black shirt underneath it, accompanied by black jeans and shoes with a pair of white gloves. To complete the ensemble he walks around using a ebony cane with a silver handle with a purple gem on top of it.

The victim? The poor sap of a guild master who's Dark Guild was the mission request by a team of Scarlet Nova mages.

"I don't know, I really don't know!" the older man whined, hoping that his pleas would be heard. Too bad the mage did not believe him.

"Silence you lying scum!" the mage roared. He had resorted to using his cane as a weapon to bash the face of his victim, causing more agonizing screams to cry out from him. While most people would cringe, this mage rather enjoyed it. The pain inflicted on his face, the cries that were coming out. They all seemed so soothing to him and with each hit, the maniacal grin on his face grew larger and larger.

"Kozmotis stop. At this rate, he'll die first before you get anything out of him." A voice behind Kozmotis protested. The owner of the voice was a guy who had an average build of 6'0 and had short, silver- black hair with one streak of silver. Hi silver white eyes were currently fixated with morbid fascination as Kozmotis beat the living day lights out of the helpless but evil guild master. He was wearing a black shirt with a black hoodie. Skin tight white jeans and black high tops finished his look, making him look like a punk. The black headphones he always wore were currently hanging from his neck, their loud music audible in the background. Though not visible currently, he had the kanji for eternal imprinted as a tattoo on his left ankle.

"Zip it Yami! I am almost done. He's gonna buckle any give me the information we need very soon!" Kozmotis retorted, his eyes never leaving victim as he repeated bashed him with his cane.

Suddenly half-bash, his hand was halted by someone else. Kozmotis tried to move his hand but the interrupter held fast, refusing to let him move an inch.

"What the hell are you doing Hikari? You're in the way." Kozmotis growled under his breath. Hikari Eien was the twin sibling of Yami. She stood at 5'8 and had ankle length silvery blue hair, with one single black streak through her hair on the left that she leaves down. Just like her brother, she had pale skin and white eyes as well. Currently, she was wearing a black and violet gothic style dress with lace and ribbons up to her mid thighs, with black stockings and black boots with heels. In her other free hand, she was holding a black parasol and like her brother, she also had the kanji for eternal imprinted as a tattoo on her right ankle.

"He said enough." She used as little words as possible to convey her message, not really wanting to speak to Kozmotis. She simply could not stand a person who abused violence to satisfy his own innate dark desires.

"What are you going to do about it, huh?!" Kozmotis challenged, his eyes burning with fire.

Hikari didn't respond, knowing that words wouldn't go through his thick skull. Instead she concentrated her magic into her palm, causing it to glow white with power. Kozmotis yelped in pain as he felt the magic burn him, causing him to drop his cane before Hikari released her grip on him.

"Dammit!" Kozmotis growled in ager as he nursed his aching wrist. While he would usually pay that back by 10 fold, he decided to let it go for once. For one, his magic was a bad match up against Hikari's. For two, she was an S-class mage who just handed his ass to him on a silver platter when he tried to attack her just over a week ago. Once bitten, twice shy.

Hikari just sighed. She really wished that Master Glaive would get his apprenticeship under way already. The sooner he left her team, the better she would feel.

"Oh well, it's your turn Padme." Yami gestured to the young woman who was currently standing in the pathway.

"I'll do my best," Padme shrugged her shoulders as she walked forward to the captive guild master. Padme stood at 5'9" tall and had a lanky, slim build. She had a sharp looking face with a scar that runs over her right eye from the top of her forehead to her cheek. She had tawny eyes and vivid violet curls that bounce around her face and end at her shoulders. She was currently wearing a yellow turtleneck tank with a burgundy long sleeved vest which drapes over her hands and a pair of burgundy capris with loads of pockets and yellow sandals. Compared to the rest of her team, her attire was like a little ray of sunshine amidst the storm clouds.

Padme let her magic course through her palms, creating two yellowish auras around them. She then held them against his temples and placed her forehead against his.

"Vision Empress: Dream Walk" she said as her magic took effect. In an instant, she was able to search through the unconscious man's mind for any relevant information he might have withheld. Within seconds, she removed her hands and forehead, shaking her head to indicate that the man really knew nothing.

"Tch!" Kozmotis growled. While he did not believe that there was no relevant information, he believed in Padme's magic. It had helped save their team's lives more than once based on the information garnered from fallen foes. While he may refuse to admit it, she was an asset to the team.

"So what do we do now?" Yami asked his hands behind his head as he strolled out of the broken guild hall. The team had managed to accomplish their mission, but they failed to obtain the data Master Glaive had instructed them to get.

"Home first." Hikari replied, receiving conformational nods from Kozmotis and Padme. While they didn't complete the mission entirely, Hikari still found it necessary to report back to the guild. Like it a not, they were a team and she was their leader. She would make sure everyone made it back safe and sound, just as she had promised Master Glaive.

 **A/N:** _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	4. Meet the Teams: Part III

**A/N** : _And another chapter bites the dust. Woohoo!_

 _I'm pretty happy with all the OCs submitted this time. I have about 24 of them in total including my own and I can't wait to get started on the first arc._

 _Which brings me to the question, how many of you would prefer seeing the S-class exams first or the introduction of the antagonist guild that has been hinted so far? Do share with me your thoughts in the reviews. Your opinions are important!_

 _Once again, many thanks to all my reviewers!_

 **Origm2012:** _Thanks! Hope you enjoy more of such scenes that are soon to come!_

 **KingKatsu:** _Well here he is XD_

 **Martyn:** _Patience is a virtue my friend. His time will come VERY soon._

 **W.** : _Glad I manage to portray him right_

 **Anim8or:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter_

 **Reven228:** _Haha, I see you got the fourth wall breaking reference. I thought since Aiden and Uvo both were similar in built and magic, why not have a go at it. Glad the result turned out well XD_

 **Ishiguro:** _Ah Naruto. We all had that childhood once. Hope it relives again in this latest chapter_

 **Novachrono:** _Thanks a bunch for the support!_

 **Fairy Lori** : _LOL! I can smell jealousy from Padme already Haha_

 **Credits**

 **Rebecca 'Rhea' Lovell – Snow Mistress 15**

 **Klein Frost – Death Obelisk**

 **Otis Pine – klbubblepop786**

 **Chantal Hebe Geisel – Elegant Soul**

 **Zion Fox – KingKatsu**

 **Scar Midnight – OleanderBleedingHeart**

 **Tsukiko Takahashi - Snow Mistress 15**

 **Aly Densis - Origm2012**

 _I don't own Fairy Tail, except my OCs_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Mount Hakone**

Mount Hakone, the legendary snowy mountain of Fiore. For most of the normal travelers, it was a pretty sight and an ideal tourist attraction. While most would only dare to take it to the lower levels, no one has ever dared to ascend the mountain completely. Steep cliffs, ravines, freezing temperatures and fearsome monsters lurked near the peak, putting a damper on most mages attempts to ascend it or complete requests related to the icy region. But for a group of Scarlet Nova mages, they were practically on their home turf.

"Aaaahhhh! Nothing beats the cold mountain air!" exclaimed a mage as he deeply inhaled and exhaled the cold air around him. It was so much more refreshing and comforting compared to the hot and humid climate of Valgore. Although he could withstand the heat, it still kind of made him drowsy and that really hampered his fighting abilities. He was tall and lean, standing at 6'3 but had a slightly muscular body build with a sharp face. He was heterochromatic with his left eye being red and his right being blue. His pale skin color and white spiky hair were a result of him spending long periods of time in the cold. He was wearing a vibrant blue sleeved jacket with two long thin tails hanging from the back. Under it was a black shirt with three white belts and a pair of grey trousers. He also wore a pair of black gloves with three talon marks on the back of each of them. To finish the set, a black hakama and steel toed boots.

"I agree Klein; it is quite a refreshing change in temperature." said the female mage that was currently seated on top of the caravan travelling behind him. She had a look of bliss on her face, her thoughts drifting off as she remembered the fun times she had as a kid playing in the snow. Just like back then, it was also snowing though minus the sharp winter winds blowing in their faces. This mage had long black slightly wavy hair that has streaks of white and light blue. Her hair was currently down with a braid on the side, tied with a white ribbon. She had a heart shaped face and lips with round sapphire blue eyes with a few tints of white. She stood at around 5'5 feet and had an hourglass figure with a snow white complexion. She was usually wearing a zipped-up dark blue hoodie with a blue stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with gold buttons over the hoodie and a black and white thigh high socks, and blue knee high sneakers with white toes.

"And there Rhea goes, lost in her own world again." Klein chuckled as he stared at Rhea who was currently smiling into the emptiness of the grey sky. "Is everything ok back there," Klein called out into the caravan.

Seated in the caravan were three people and two felines. One of the three was an elderly old man who was the owner of the caravan and its goods. The others were all members of Scarlet Nova's Team Sub-Zero.

The first of the two mages was practically a goliath, towering at 7'5 such that he had to keep his back slightly hunched just to fit into the caravan. Said mage had white haired that was tied into a ponytail and an unusual skin color of grey. The Z shaped scar on his muscular chest was currently obscured by the black T shirt he was wearing. This went along with a pair of white pants and a scarlet red cloak. For footwear, a simple pair of leather sandals. By his side was a black broadsword that had a tinge of red along its blade and an equally bright red handle and guard. While this mage could withstand and enjoyed the cold, he had decided to stay in the caravan to find out more about their mission details from the old man.

The second mage wasn't really as cold resistant as the other three were so she volunteered to watch the goods from the inside of the caravan. This mage had a healthy thin built, standing at 5'5 with a modest sized bust. She had dark brown straight hair that goes down mid chest, matching her almond shaped dark brown eyes. Her skin was a pale tan, wearing a thick purple sweater and a white knitted scarf. A white knitted beret sat on her head and black gloves and boots covered her hands and legs respectively.

On each of her knees sat aa cat, both of them taking refuge from the snow in the warmth of the caravan. The first was a ruddy Abyssinian with golden eyes, but he lost the left one and was currently wearing a black eyepatch over it. He was dressed in simple Hawaiian shirt so he snuggled up to the female mage in an attempt to keep warm. The other was an exceed who was grey with white patches of fur and bright blue eyes. Unlike her friend, she was dressed in white fur coat and currently eating a fish.

"Feeling better Aengus?" the female mage asked as she held the cat closer to her.

"Yea, much better Chantal," Aengus breathed out white puffs of air as held himself close to Chantal. "It would be better if Yuki came over though. She could keep me so much warmer. Our fur being close to each other…"

That effectively earned him a slap.

"Haha, at least I tried." Aengus chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, a small paw print mark forming on the side of his cheek already. Yuki just rolled her eyes at him while Chantal giggled as she watched the whole scene unfold.

"So whatcha got Otis?" Yuki asked their team leader who had just finished conversing with the old man.

"Well, according to the old man, there have been several attacks on carriages passing through Blackmore Pass. It only lasts an instant before the attacker leaves, leaving behind nothing but wreckage. Strangely enough, none of the goods were taken, just utterly destroyed. As it seemed to be a series of random attacks, we have been called in to escort the old man's caravan safely over to Magnolia." Otis explained as he turned to face his team mates.

"Then shouldn't we take another route?" Chantal asked. "It seems dangerous to try and take Blackmore Pass."

"Yea and I'm pretty sure we just passed the sign that said Blackmore Pass 5minutes ago," Aengus quipped.

Silence descended as three pairs of eyes just stared at the Exceed.

"Klein! Rhea! Be on your guard!" Otis barked at the two other mages outside the caravan.

"Actually that won't be necessary." Klein replied. He held his hand up, signaling the caravan to stop. He already knew something was out there. Having been born and raised on the mountains, he could tell if there was a beast watching them. Rhea sat up as well, her eyes now squinting as she concentrated on seeing through the snowstorm.

All of a sudden, she noticed movement. It was big and it was coming fast.

"Guys back up! Now!" she shouted as the figure began to dive-bomb. The old man instantly set the caravan in reverse and not a moment too soon as gigantic talons crashed into the place where it once stood. Klein and Rhea both tumbled to the side while Otis scrambled out of the caravan. Chantal remained inside it, preparing to play support. Her riding crop was useless in the strong winds as of now.

Before them was a gigantic snow wyvern. Even in wyvern sizes, this one was huge. It had snow white scales, bright blue eyes and jagged teeth. It wingspan was so long that it touched both ends of the ravine. Seeing the three mages, it let out an ear deafening roar.

"Aaaaaayyyyyyyyeeeeee! It's gonna swallow us whole!" Aengus freaked as he stared at the wyvern's open mouth, retreating further into Chantal's jacket.

"Aye!" Yuki squealed in fear as well, trembling as she cuddled up against Chantal as well next to Aengus.

For the four mages, they felt no such fear. All of them stood ready, preparing for the battle about to unfold.

"Go!" commanded Otis as the wyvern's claws slashed at their position. Both Klein and Rhea went left and right respectively while Otis stood still, allowing the wyvern to cut him down.

Or so the wyvern thought.

Where the wyvern's claws had struck, Otis still remained standing. That part of his body had become liquid, allowing the wyvern's attack to pass through it completely. The wyvern's eyes blinked, as though being unable to comprehend what just happened.

"Liquid Body: Solidify" The water that had splashed onto the wyvern earlier when it hit Otis instantly froze over, causing the wyvern to be stuck to the ground.

"Now you two!" Otis called out to both Klein and Rhea who had assumed their positions. Both their cheeks swelled as bright blue magic circles lined up in front of them

"Roar of the…"

"Breath of the…"

"Ice Dragon!" "Yuki-onna!" Both of them called out simultaneously as two large columns of ice and snow battered the wyvern at its sides, causing it to screech in pain.

"Moon Flower, come to my aid!" Chantal called out from the caravan as a green magic circle formed at her fingertips. A howl could be heard in the distance and the thundering of gigantic echoed throughout the ravine. From the shadows of the snowstorm, a giant silver wolf leapt out. While not as big as the wyvern, it was quite large as well, standing at the height of a horse. It had golden irises and extremely large and sharp canines.

"What is your order Chantal," Moon Flower requested as she knelt respectfully next to Chantal while awaiting her instructions.

"Help to restrain the wyvern," Chantal ordered. Moon Flower just gave a feral grin as she ruffed out, "As you wish."

With a flying leap, she landed on top of the wyvern, tearing at its armor like scales on its back. The wyvern squirmed about, roaring as it tried to get Moon Flower of its back. So distracted was it that it did not notice the other mages lining up for the second wave of assault.

"Plasma Cannon!" Otis converted the surrounding ice and snow into plasma state, firing them off as little balls of energy in quick succession. The plasma energy exploded upon impact, burning through even more of the wyvern's armor.

"Icy Wind!" Rhea commanded as well, releasing bursts of ice cold winds at the wyvern that caused its wings to freeze over. Now it was really grounded. The wyvern tried to take to the skies, but only to leave the air for a few feet before crashing down again.

"The final blow!" declared Klein as he propelled himself into the air above the wyvern's blind spot. "Ice Dragon's Claw!" he cried out as he coated his hands with thick ice, causing it to resemble claws. On his way down, he slashed the wyvern from the neck to its belly, leaving five distinct claw marks present on its body. With a defeated howl, the wyvern crashed into the snowy floor.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," remarked Klein as he began walking back to his team. Only to stop as he noticed a dark shadow fall over him.

"You have got to be kidding me," Rhea said as she watched the wyvern got back up. It was bleeding in areas where Klein and Moon Flower had struck and was also missing chunks of scales due to the combined ice attacks. And yet, it still continued to stand up, as though determined not to let the mages pass.

"He's a tough one eh?" Otis smiled. He liked difficult opponents. With them he could put his power to the max.

"Yep! Time for round two!" Klein cheered as he cracked his knuckles

"Something's not right," Chantal thought to herself. There was no reason why the wyvern had to continue fighting them. It could have just retreated. Unless…

"Yuku, carry me to where the wyvern came from." She asked. Aengus instantly complied, using Aera to carry Chantal into the sky. Up in the air, she spotted a large cliff surface in the general direction that the wyvern had come from. Upon closer inspection, she noticed three small white ovals in a circular pit on top of the cliff. It was just as she thought.

"Guys, stop!" she called out desperately to her team members who were on the verge of engaging the beast again. "The wyvern's nest is up here! It was just protecting its home!"

"So that's why it attacked the travelers that passed by here. It was afraid they would harm its eggs." Otis figured as realization dawned upon him. Now it all made sense.

"Don't worry, no one's gonna take your eggs." Chantal reassured the wyvern as she got closer to it. Yuki was still trembling slightly as he approached the wyvern, still terrified that they could be all swallowed in a single gulp.

The wyvern, as though understanding Chantal's words, calmed down. The rage in it eyes were now replaced with a form of understanding. When Chantal stroked its jaw, it playfully nudged back, causing the girl to laugh heartily. This brought a smile to everyone's face, glad that things turned out just fine.

"I'm gonna call you Snow? How's that?" Chantal asked as she caressed the wyvern's neck. The wyvern let out a soft growl, as though a form of agreement. With that, the wyvern flapped its wings once more and took to the skies.

"Bye Snow!" everyone chorused as they watched Snow disappear into the snowstorm once more.

"You made a contract with that wyvern didn't you?" asked Klein to which Chantal nodded. She was able to contract beasts by speaking to them or learning their names. That definitely would serve as a valuable partner in the days to come.

"Hmmph! After all that, it was actually quite nice after all." commented Yuki. "It wasn't so scary in all truthfulness."

"Oh really," sniggered Aengus. "I was pretty sure someone was snuggling close to…"

That earned him another paw slap, much to the laughter of the team of mages.

Ever since that day, travelers crossing Blackmore Pass would notice the additional fine print added to the sign. "Wyvern's nest ahead. Don't disturb please."

 **Valgore Woods**

"Dinner time!" a monotone voice called out into the woods. Said owner of the voice was currently holding plates of meat and bowls of seeds. She laid them out in a calm clearing in the middle of the woods, waiting for her company to arrive. Within seconds, a swarm of animals appeared before her, all rushing for the bowls of food she had put down. The animals ranged from the regular tree birds to rabbits and hounds. Heck even a Vulcan or two turned up to eat. The most distinct animal amongst them was a black dire wolf with bright blue eyes and a scar swathed body. The wolf went straight to the mage instead, rubbing his neck against her thighs.

"Good boy, Warrior." The mage stroked the wolf's soft fur, letting a small smile form on her face. This mage had tanned skin and an athletic body type which stood at 5'9. She had midnight blue hair which was extremely long and braided. Her midnight blue eyes went well with her hair. Her left eye had a vertical scar running along it, though it wasn't visible due to her bangs covering it. Her right ear had a bullet hole in it, but that too was also covered by her long hair. The mage was currently wearing a midnight blue tank top with a black hoodie attached to it and a pair of black cargo pants with wolf brane flower patterns on them. Her arms were covered in white sports tape which stood out against her black fingerless gloves. On her neck was a crystal and shark tooth necklace which reflected well the light seeping through the forest canopy. On her feet were a pair of old black army boots.

This mage was anti-social compare to the majority of the members of Scarlet Nova. She would distant herself from most conservations, preferring animals for friends and company instead. At least they weren't as judgmental as humans. She would take occasional breaks from the guild to meet up with her animal friends in the forest. To spend some alone time with them. It really helped to soothe her nerves and thoughts.

So imagine her surprise when she heard footsteps in the clearing.

Instinctively she leapt up from her position, black wind already swirling fiercely around her arms as she prepared to intercept the intruder. Hell she didn't like being followed more than she liked getting stabbed. If anything was amiss, it was why the animals didn't react to the presence of someone approaching. Upon identifying who it was though, she knew the answer to her own question.

"Geez Scar, calm down. It's just me." Ryuga protested with his arms up in the air. Scar snorted as she culled the winds surrounding her arms. Her facial expression became less tense, letting down her guard completely. If there was someone that she could stand, it would probably be Ryuga. He wasn't one to pry into pasts which made talking to him a lot more comfortable as compared to some of the obnoxious buffoons in the guild.

"Hello, Warrior. Doing well as usual I see," Ryuga knelt on one knee as he patted Warrior on the head, causing the wolf to bark in joy and wag his tail. Ryuga had been here before, so he wasn't considered foreign to the animals but rather a part of them. Another reason why Scar found it easier to get along with Ryuga.

"What brings you here," she asked her fellow S-class mage as Ryuga walked up and sat right next to her.

"Well, I happened to see your team leave on a mission without you. So I got curious as to where you went. As expected, you came here." Ryuga replied as he laid down the picnic basket he was carrying. In it were the most mouthwatering sandwiches one could ever imagine, courtesy of Ryuga's peerless skill in the kitchen. He offered one to Scar who nodded her head in appreciation and thanks.

"Those fools can take care of themselves. And I always take a break at this time of the year anyways." She replied in between bites of the sandwich. "What about you? Didn't you just return to Valgore two days ago?"

"Yea," chuckled Ryuga. "We kinda made a mess at the Council Hall in Hargeon so Master Glaive has banned my team from taking any missions currently. Zephyr is currently running odd jobs to pay for his rent. Vali is following Liliana around when she does her shopping to make sure she doesn't get lost."

"You still remember the artifact that we were sent to guard 5 years ago?" Ryuga suddenly asked.

"What about it?" Scar asked just as she finished her sandwich and was about to reach for another.

"It's confirmed to be page from the book of Zeref." Ryuga answered, his expression darkened.

That killed Scar's appetite completely. She cursed silently as she balled her fists tightly, trying to control her rage. She had a personal score to settle with Black Wizard. It was his entire fault that she had to suffer. That she had to be judged for her actions. That she had no friends.

"Scar, stop. You're scaring them." Ryuga patted her on the shoulder. She was so caught up in her memories that she forgot about the killing intent that she gave off. Now all the animals had taken a few steps back, seemingly frightened by her.

"Sorry," Scar muttered under her breath though Ryuga just shook his head in response. "It's ok. We all have a personal vendetta to settle with him."

"Master Glaive has asked for us to go with him to Ea within the next three days or so to reconfirm the artifact. We'll be bringing Shinji along too, since he was sent to steal it in the first place." Ryuga explained the situation to Scar but she didn't really pay attention to his words. She was busy trying to reach out to her friends, but none of them were willing to go near her.

Ryuga just sighed softly. He guessed he could repeat that later. From his pocket, he took out a small wooden harmonica and began to play. The soothing music seemed to have a calming effect on the animals and they all moved slightly closer towards them.

Realizing that music was the key, Scar also reached out into her knapsack and removed a black violin with a blue rose print on it. She too began to play, harmonizing with Ryuga as a symphony began to echo throughout the clearing. Her friends all drew very close now, some even returning to sit on her lap. Everything was back to normal. Ryuga smiled at her amidst his blowing in which she responded with one of her own, as a form of gratitude.

All the while, a melody could be heard from all corners of the woods and the animals listening to it all swayed along to the tune.

 **Deserted Island. Somewhere between the borders of Alvarez and Fiore.**

While Scar went on her monthly break, her team had decided to take up an S-class mission by themselves. They had requested for Scar to grab it for them before she left but she refused. So, they took it by the other way: stealing. Despite the fact that none of the three mages were S-class, they didn't let it get to them. The mission request was to just destroy some crystal located on an island. They were definitely strong enough for this.

Boy were they wrong.

Destroying the crystal was one thing, but no one mentioned the army of winged mummies that were guarding it. They all stood at 6'0 and had black feather like wings sprouting from their backs. Magical runes were drawn up all over their bandages, concealing the decaying and rotting faces beneath them. Most of them were armed with halberds while the minority of them carried swords or daggers. While they weren't all that strong, the problem was that there were a never-ending number of them. Well, but what was one to expect. It was S-class after all and the mission was in the middle of a frickin pyramid.

The trio of mages and their two Exceeds were current clustered together in the center of the pyramid with the Exceeds behind them. All around them, mummies groaned as they walked crawled or flew closer to them. While a sight like that would have made the weakest mages crumble, these mages did not. Instead they were in the middle of a game.

The blame game.

"Well, I think we made a bad mistake taking this mission." The male mage said. He had a tall and muscular build, standing at 6'7. His blood red spikey hair and eyes seemed darker due to the lack of light in the pyramid. He sported a long scar that went from his forehead all the way to his jaw, a memorial from an earlier battle. He was currently wearing a ripped white tank top that had a black flak jacket over it. This was accompanied by beige cargo pants and black combat boots. He had a wide grin on his face despite the situation, enjoying more than his other two team mates at the very least.

"You know Zion, its ironic hearing that come from your mouth. After all, you were the one who picked the lock to the S-class office." A female mage retorted as she stood back to back with him. This mage had lush long brown hair with blonde highlights that reached to the bottom of her ribcage with thin strands that she braided with golden ribbons on the sides. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope from blue to green to brown. She also had a heart shaped face and high cheekbones with pouty rose pink lips. With her hour-glass figure, she stood at 5'2, slightly dwarfed by her teammates. She was wearing a white long sleeved button up under a gray almost black vest, a matching gray skirt, white knee high socks and black shoes with a red tie.

"Haha! Tsuki now that you mentioned it, I believe you were the one who egged me on to do it." Zion argued back, refusing to take all the blame for himself.

"I did not."

"Yes you did."

"Did not.

"Did."

"Guys! Could we please leave this for after the mission? Mummy Apocalypse happening here." reminded another female mage. She had long silky black hair that went past her waist with a few strands pulled aside and braided together in a long braid. She had dark blue eyes and a light tan complexion. Despite being petite and standing at 5'6", years of training had given her defined muscles and a near hour glass figure. She had on a white tank top which was covered by a dark blue leather jacket. The sleeves to the jacket were rolled up to her elbows and she also wore a pair of black leather gloves. She had on dark blue leggings with a pair of black shorts, finishing off with black ankle high boots.

"Aly is right Tsuki. You guys should save this for later." An exceed called out to his partner. This exceed had orange fur and an white belly. His round orange eyes and pointy ears were a match to the orange hoodie he was wearing.

"Shiro thinks so too!" the other exceed spoke up as well, addressing herself in third person. This exceed had white fur and an orange belly. Like her fellow exceed, she was also dressed in orange hoodie.

"Ok Sora, Shiro." Came Tsuki's reply to her twin exceeds. Now just simply wasn't the time.

And yet Zion kept pushing it.

"How about this. The one who destroys the crystal is right." Zion declared. "this way, we can complete the mission as well. So what do you say?"

That brought a smile to Tsuki's face. It was indeed the best of both worlds. Sometimes Zion really did use his head. "Deal!" she said.

Aly, Sora and Shiro could only sigh at their immaturity.

With that, the mages began to fight the mummies.

"Magma God's Bellow!" roared Zion as he exhaled out a stream of black magma from his mouth, incinerating the mummies in front of him. As the path before him cleared up, he didn't let up, unleashing yet another spell.

'Magma God's Hatred!" Black lava coated his arms and fists as he punched and smashed mummies into the ground. Anything and everything his lava touched melted almost instantly, making it easier to advance forward towards the crystal.

Tsuki was not one to go down so easily as well. Taking to the sky, a golden and red magic circle formed as she unleashed her spell.

"Solar Dragon's Drones!" she cried out. 12 Ethereal gold wings instantly sprouted from her back, firing hot streams of laser all around her. Unlike Zion's magic which melted his opponents, Tsuki's magic cut right through them instead, severing limbs and heads without spilling drop of blood. She then soared across the battlefield, her lasers now firing independently on their own at any foe that was too close for comfort.

"Blue Dirt!" Aly commanded as she initiated her own spell. A circular ring of blue flames erupted around herself and the exceeds, providing a flame barrier against the mummies. Aly then concentrated again, generating a bright blue orb in the middle of her palms. "Azure Nightfall!" she cried out as she launched the sphere into midair. The sphere then exploded, raining down streaks of blue flames that impaled any mummies within range.

By now, the three mages have managed to clear a large portion of the mummies but more just kept pouring out of nowhere.

"Someone has to attack the crystal now!" Aly cried out to her team mates. This was going to be for naught if they didn't manage to break the crystal. They were going to run out of magic power at this rate.

"I'll do it!" Both Tsuki and Zion said in unison.

Zion fired jets of magma from his fists, clearing the pathway in front of him so that he could make a clean break for the crystal. Meanwhile, Tsuki began to dive bomb towards the crystal.

In an instant, they both stood in front of the crystal, launching their own respective attacks.

"Magma God' Rage!"

"Solar Dragon's Devouring Fang!"

Both roundhouse kick and arm slash impacted the crystal at the same time. Unable to withstand the combined effect of two slayer magics, the crystal cracked instantly. It released a black light which knocked both mages backwards. They both recovered quickly, just in time to watch the crystal's shell dissolve away to reveal a skull like necklace. The surrounding mummies all collapsed simultaneously upon the destruction of the crystal, reverting back into nothing but magical dust.

"Weird, "commented Aly as she went forward to retrieve the necklace. It felt warm to the touch, as though it was alive. She placed the accessory into her pocket, deciding to bring it back for Master Glaive to examine.

Meanwhile, another discussion had broken out between Zion and Tsuki.

"I'm pretty sure my attack hit first." Declared Zion with a toothy grin on his face.

"Nope, it was definitely my attack. You were way too slow." retorted Tsuki.

"Was not."

"Was."

"Was not."

"Was."

Once again, Aly, Sora and Shiro sighed in unison.

When would they grow up?

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	5. Meet the Teams: Part IV

**A/N:** _Finally the last introduction chapter is out. Sorry this one took longer than usual. Actually, I had finished writing this chapter already but my laptop decided to die on me before I could post it. Essentially I lost all my documents. So, I had to redo everything, FROM SCRATCH. While it was a pain in the ass, I still managed to finish it._

 _All character in the story will be introduced thus far. If your character did not appear yet, it either means you have failed to meet certain requirements of mine or I just have plans for them to enter the guild later on._

 _Special thanks to_ _ **KingKatsu, Elegant Soul and OleanderBleedingHeart**_ _for updating me on some of the errors I have made in my writing of their OCs._

 _Additional credit to_ _ **Elegant Soul**_ _for providing me with some inspiration on coming up with some chapters that talk about the history of the characters and probably how the teams were formed._

 _Also, after reading the reviews and asking some of you, I have decided to do the dark guild arc first. Before you guys ask anything, Dark Guild OC submissions are only open from next chapter onwards._

 _As usual, lots of love to all my reviewers._

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Glad I managed to portray Scar right. I thought it would be good to show her soft side since no one is completely rigid in terms of personality._

 **Reven228:** _Thanks for the support!_

 **KingKatsu:** _Sorry about that :P The changes will be made ASAP_

 **Arclin:** _Well I guess I'm a wizard haha, I was thinking exactly of the same thing when I was writing Scar. Zion will definitely be showcased more. Slayer magic is so fun to work with_

 **NovaChrono:** _Thanks for the opinion!_

 **Anim8or:** _Thank you; I'll keep doing my best._

 **Origm2012:** _Yup I agree. Not every mission has to end badly or with an explosion. It would be nice to see a change every now and then. I thought Sub-Zero would be a good name for them, since most of the mages used ice or ice related magic with the exception of Chantal. There would be more missions to come for sure. So keep reading and find out_

 **Credits**

 **Neel Pax – anim8or**

 **Gemma Tyson – cherryblossoms redwillow**

 **Shinji Tengoku – reven228**

 **Judar Alibaba - derekjay2000**

 _I do not own Fairy Tail, except my OCs_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Guild Hall**

"Boring, boring, boring!" whined a mage as she repeated bashed her fists against the bar table. She had just returned from a mission but was already aching for some action. She hated to stand still, preferring to run about and be in open spaces. She had asked the guild earlier if anyone wanted to train with her, but they all declined, busy doing their own things.

"Come on Seras, just one mission please," she batted her eyelashes at Seras as she pleaded. "I promise Master Glaive won't find out!" The mage had a relatively small figure, standing at 5'3 with little curves to it. She had messy, bright golden blonde hair that reached down to nearly her mid-back, and had countless layers of various lengths cut throughout it. Despite its appearance, it was not thick, but instead wispy and soft, and wavy a bit toward the end of each layer. Her bangs were sideswept towards the right, coming down to her cheekbone as her hair was parted toward the left. They had a tendency to fall into her eyes, which were round, and incredibly bright yellowy-amber in colour, ringed with black, long eyelashes. Her pale skin was considered perfect by many, with the exception of the scars on her arms and on her right ankle. She was wearing a ratty purple long-sleeved t-shirt that was way too big for her size. As such, the sleeves always seemed to drape over her hands and the lavender guild mark between her shoulder blades was easily visible from the back. Under that, she wore faded blue jeans and white sneakers.

"You know I can't do that Neel," Seras apologised to the pouting mage. "Even if you didn't say anything, Father would still find out when he reads the registry."

"But things are so dry around here! No one is doing anything!" Neel protested as she slouched over the bar. Even Seras had to agree with Neel on that. Usually the guild was noisy and brimming with activities, but today things seemed to be going on at a very slow pace. The mages present were all busy minding their own business instead of making a ruckus as they always did.

Aiden and Zion were in the middle of an arm wrestling match. While it was obvious that Aiden had the upper hand, Zion refused to give in, sweating profusely as he tried to match Aiden's superior arm strength.

Blitz was in the midst of tinkering away with his lacrima tools, holding a magnifying glass and a blowtorch in his hands. He was currently working on timing the explosions of his explosive lacrima and as such he needed absolute concentration. So, he decided to wear a set of earplugs to keep the noise out while he did his work.

Yami, Asuna, Klein and Otis were all at another table, playing a game of Blackjack. Next to them was Vento, watching intently as he wondered how the game was being played. In the middle of the table lay a deck of cards as well as a pile of money. By the looks of things, it seemed that Klein was on a winning streak.

"How do you win?" Vento asked aloud as he tried to figure out the rules to the game.

"Well, in this game the cards in your hand have to add up to 21 points. Each picture card such as a jack is worth 10 points while an Ace is worth 1 or 11 points depending on your hand. You win automatically when the cards in your hand add up to just nice 21 points but you also lose immediately if your hand exceeds 21 points." Explained Otis as he showed his hand to Vento – a queen and a seven

"Oh I see," Vento said, having caught on to the rules of the game. With that he went about to the other players, wondering what cards they had in their hands.

Yami had his brows furrowed at the moment. In his hand was a jack and a 6 and he was contemplating whether he should draw another card. He was close to going bust and he did not know whether he should take the risk.

Meanwhile, Klein and Asuna both sat comfortably in their chairs, confident that their hand would guarantee them a win. Asuna held a pair of 10s while Klein had an Ace and a 9. Little did they know that both of them had the same number of points.

Zephyr was at the end of the guild hall, staring at his own reflection in the mirror as he admired the new electric blue sweat pants he had bought yesterday.

"Snazzy," he remarked as he ran his hand up and down the silky material. Damn, he knew how to choose a good set of clothing

"Nerys, save me! I need entertainment!" Neel drawled as she grabbed Nerys, who was sitting next to her, by the arm. Nerys sighed as well. She could barely think of anything at the moment. Even she was starting to get affected by the drowsy atmosphere the guild was giving off. Her eyes glazed over the guild hall, wondering what she should do.

Then, a light bulb went off in her head and a devious smirk formed on her lips, much to the puzzlement of Seras and Neel.

"Watch this," she said as she hopped off her seat. She stomped her feet into the ground, a blue magic circle appearing below her feet. In a split second, she vanished. And in the next, she was back and holding something in her hand.

Zephyr's new pants.

Neel instantly covered her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out in laughter while Seras covered her eyes. Some things were just not meant to be seen. "Time for the show to begin!" snickered Nerys as she threw the pants behind the bar to hide the evidence.

"SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!" hollered Zephyr as he stared downwards. One moment he was admiring the pants he had bought and in the next, he was gaping at the white boxers that he wore underneath them.

"DAMMIT BLITZ! GIVE THEM BACK!" he shouted towards the mage. As Zephyr had not met Nerys or her magic yet, there was only one culprit in his mind. The only mage who could use warp magic.

Unfortunately for Zephyr and Blitz, he could not hear a single word that Zephyr said, the earplugs proving to be useful at the wrong time. Zephyr immediately misunderstood, thinking that the mage was denying any participation in the prank. He crouched into a hunter's crouch, allowing magic to pump into legs and feet as a silver magic circle appeared beneath them.

"Speed Magic: Axel Crash!" he cried as he propelled himself straight towards Blitz, launching a round house kick that had trailing streaks of red.

The attack hit Blitz squarely in the side of his head, sending him spiralling into the nearby wall with a resounding crash.

"What the heck!" Blitz growled as he got up from the rubble. One moment he was looking at the lacrima, the next he saw his face hit a wall. That was totally uncalled for.

"Give them back!" Zephyr cried as he rushed at Blitz, magic pulsing through his arms this time. In an instant, he launched a wave of punches at Blitz who had no choice but to guard with his arms.

While Zephyr's blows weren't all that powerful, having something strike multiple times a second was proving to be very annoying at the least. "Go screw yourself!" Blitz retorted as he warped directly above Zephyr and drop kicked him on the head. Zephyr was stunned instantly, standing still but not for long as Blitz warped again and punched him right in the cheek. That sent him flying into the table where Aiden and Zion were.

Both mages leapt out of the way as Zephyr crashed headlong into the table, shattering it on impact. Zion cursed silently as he really wanted to win that match. But then again, another opportunity had just presented itself.

"Alrighty then! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" he declared with a grin on his face. Lava began to flow over and cover his hands as he held them up, allowing the lava to congregate into a large ball. "Magma God's Incinerator!" he commanded as he prepared to hurl the large boiling mass, his target no doubt to be Blitz.

Blitz threw a light lacrima at the instant Zion announced his spell, causing the room to glow very brightly.

"Shit!" Zion cursed as he was blinded but he threw the lava ball nonetheless, fully intent on hitting Blitz.

Too bad it flew to the other table.

Four pairs of eyes widened as the lump of lava landed right smack over the table, incinerating instantly and anything that was on it. But for two mages, the heartache was real.

"My cards!" Yami despaired as he watched helplessly as his favourite deck went up into flames.

"My money!" Klein screeched. There went his rent fees for the month.

"Dammit Molten-Drool! Are you nuts, burning money in a recession!" Klein growled in anger as ice began to coat over his fists. Using the chair as a springboard, he jumped into the air as a light blue magic circle coated his arms.

"Frost Fangs of the Ice Dragon!" He roared as ice blades extended from his elbows all the way to his wrists. Bringing them up in an X formation, he swiped both his arms to unleash a wave of ice energy towards Zion.

"You wanna go Ice-Brain," Zion chuckled as he fired off a stream of lava to counter the wave of ice, releasing an explosion of steam when the two elements collided. Just as the steam cleared, Klein appeared and swung his frost blades downwards to which Zion hardened the lava on his hands and countered the blow.

"Now this is a riot!" chuckled Aiden as he grabbed a near unconscious Zephyr from the table rubble. Poised like a javelin thrower, he called out "HUMAN CANNONBALL!" and hurled Zephyr in the direction of Otis.

Otis simply smirked as he let his body become intangible. Zephyr passed right through him and landed smack into the chest of Asuna.

"So soft…" Zephyr muttered as he squeezed something which made Asuna's face glow red with embarrassment and rage.

"Pevert!" she hissed as she formed a silver whip. She then tied it around the neck of Zephyr and hurled him yet again, this time towards Blitz. When she was done, she loaded her bow with two silver arrows and fired them at Otis, snarling "This is your fault!"

"Nope it's not!" Otis grinned as he created a small cyclone with the swipe of his hand, sending the arrows off course. One towards Yami and the other to Vento.

"What the," Yami protested as he watched the arrow zero in on him. "Shadow Replica!" he called out as a dark wave appeared from beneath his feet and absorbed the projectile before firing off another dozen in the direction of Aiden's table.

"Eeeep! Mirror Magic, Deflection!" Vento squealed as he hid behind a magic mirror which changed the arrow's trajectory, causing it to chase after Zephyr instead.

Klein and Zion were in the midst of clobbering each other with blows of magma and ice when they saw the impending storm of shadowy projectiles. Both mages ended up doing a frenzied dance as they tried to avoid getting impaled by the rain of arrows. When they were done with that, they both were positioned awkwardly, like a cross between a bear and a flamingo.

"DON"T INTERFERE!" both of them called out in unison, preparing to attack Yami instead. But Aiden wouldn't let them. With a swing of his mighty forearms, he sent both Klein and Zion into the roof, causing the ceiling to crack slightly while the mages laid there twitching.

"Come on Otis! Let's rumble!" Aiden roared as he slammed his fists together, totally mistaking the attack to have come from Otis.

"You're on!" Otis accepted the challenge and cracked his knuckles. Even though he wasn't the one that did that, his battle hungry personality found it hard to decline a challenge. With that, both men began to run towards each other

Meanwhile, Blitz just simply sidestepped and warped out of the way as he dodged the human projectile called Zephyr. For the second time that day, Zephyr crashed into a wall but this time, he was pinned there by the arrow which followed him and embedded itself into his boxers.

"Too easy," Blitz remarked as he warped into existence again. That was before he realised where he had teleported to.

Right in between Otis and Aiden's fists.

"Fudgebuckets," Blitz just had enough time to curse before two overwhelming pressures slammed into either side of his face, knocking him unconscious. He literally floated to the ground, waving a white flag. The two S-class mage just had puzzled looks on their faces, no knowing why Blitz had decided to act as a punching bag.

All this time, Neel, Nerys and Seras had all taken refuge behind the bar. While Neel and Nerys were cackling with laughter, Seras was cringing internally. There was a lot of clean up to be done and she was pretty sure her Father wasn't going to be pleased.

Then, the guild doors burst open and every mage in the room just froze right there, panicking if Master Glaive had returned.

Luckily for them, it was just Coraline and some mage that no one recognized. Most of the mages heaved a huge sigh of relief at this point, glad that they were still safe for the time being.

"What happened here!" shrieked Coraline as she stared in dismay at the utter disarray the guild was in currently. This was not the image she wanted to present to the newcomer. "Have you buffoons forgotten the guild rules again? Something along the lines of, please spar in the courtyard?"

"Whoopsies," Nerys whispered, her tongue sticking out in a comical manner as she failed to recall what Seras had told her the day earlier.

Cora just face palmed herself. She was gonna have a lot of work to do later. Particularly in the treatment department.

"Does this happen a lot?" the unknown mage asked. The mage had a small build, like that of a gymnast and stood at about 5'1. Her straight black shoulder length hair was pushed back with a red headband to prevent it from falling over her amber eyes. The pair of silver dragon ear-cuffs that she wore as earrings stood out the most. She had slightly pale skin that was covered in scars along the back and upper thighs, though it was current not visible. She was wearing black knee-high boots and thigh-highs with a black and red miniskirt. For her top, a red straight across strapless shirt cut off mid-chest, and a black vest.

"Well, not really." Replied Cora, though she wasn't really sure herself. There were times whereby the guild was on its best behaviour and there were times whereby they all just let loose without a care to the world. She had lost count of which happened more.

"Aw shucks. I was hoping I could join in too," the newcomer pouted, causing a sweat drop to fall from Cora.

"Hello there, my name is Seras and welcome to Scarlet Nova," Seras said as she emerged from the back of the bar. "Are you here to join?"

"Yup, my name is Gemma and I have travelled all the way from Magnolia in search of a guild." Gemma said as she introduced herself.

"How did you come to know of us?" Seras asked upon hearing that Gemma came over from Magnolia. She was pretty sure that Magnolia had bigger guilds like Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus, so why join them?

"Well, you could say that I don't really have a preference for mainstream guilds. So I decided to go somewhere else. I heard that there was a recently established guild here in Valgore, so I decided to try my luck." Gemma smiled.

"Oh I see. So where would you like your guild mark?" Seras asked, her chop in her hand.

"Red and on my torso please," Gemma lifted her shirt slightly, allowing Seras to imprint the guild mark. There was the sizzling of magic and when removed, the guild mark of Scarlet Nova shone brightly.

"You are now an official member of the guild, so welcome." Seras said with a bright smile.

"Cool, this is rad!" Gemma commented as she examined her new guild mark. Meanwhile the other guild members were cheering, happy that they had some fresh blood to the guild.

All of a sudden, there was a loud ripping sound. All eyes turned to the source of the sound, staring intently at Zephyr's boxers which had started to rip.

"OH MUTHAFU…" came a few voices just as his boxers tore free of their restraint.

At that moment, the phrase "MY EYES! THEY BURN!" wasn't so overrated anymore.

 **Magic Council, Ea**

Having received the message from the magic council, Glaive and a small team of mages had arrived at Ea. Unlike Valgore, Ea was the home ground of the Rune Knights and there were absolutely no guilds in the vicinity at all. Ea mainly relied on the Rune Knights as a security force within the town, something that Glaive was not very comfortable with.

Even so, Glaive still found it nostalgic. It had been almost 10 years since he last step foot into this place. While he had attended the regular guild masters gathering at Clover Town, he never expected himself to return to his old working place. Especially not under these conditions. As he and his team of mages walked through the long hallways leading to the artefact room, Glaive took his time to take in the all-too-familiar sights and sounds of the place. It was right here 10 years ago that he left Fairy Tail, leading to the birth of Scarlet Nova. While he may have missed his old guild, Glaive did not regret his decision.

Beside him were Ryuga and Scar. They too were having a trip down memory lane, though it was quite obvious that theirs wasn't as pleasant. Ryuga's eyes were narrowed while Scar's face was darker than usual. They had a bad past with the Magic Council and being in the building was putting a damper on their spirits. Their past wasn't one that they were proud of but even so, Glaive had still agreed to take them under his wing despite all the criticism he faced. While they were difficult to get along with initially, time eventually revealed their true forms. They had become something that Glaive held dear to his heart and people that he could trust apart from his own family. Even if the request did not depict he bring along those involved in the incident, he would have brought both of them here anyways.

The third mage lingered at the back of the group. He felt oddly out of place compared to the three in front of him. For one, they were all stronger than he was. For another, they had some kind of bond that he just did not know how to put into words. This mage stood at around 6'2, having broad shoulders and a slightly muscular build. He had wild bright blond hair that was kept rather short so as to keep it out of his eyes. His bright blue eyes which usually held a mischievous glint to them were now dull with boredom and unrest. His skin had a nice tan to it from his time outdoors and several scars on his torso from fights' he had gotten into over the years. One scar was the most prominent, being rather vicious and right along the jugular of his neck. This one throbbed in pain as he kept walking down the endless hallway but he kept it to himself. He had on a pair of cream coloured pants which pooled on his mint green sneakers. Two black belts extended from his pants, crossing and forming an X around his waist. For his top, he just wore a simple blue long sleeved button up shirt. By his two sides were two gun holsters. One of them was particularly larger than the average holster used to store magic guns whereas the other was slightly smaller than usual.

While the mage was usually very social, he found it difficult to speak with Ryuga and Scar. It was the same for how a thief would find it difficult to talk to a cop even after turning over a new leaf. This was rather apt for his situation when one considered the context. The artefact that they were on their way to confirm, he was the one that was asked to steal it 5 years ago. He and his brother were tasked by their family to recover the artefact from a ruin deep in the mountain. By some coincidence or luck, the ones sent to retrieve from Scarlet Nova were none other than Ryuga and Scar. His brother had attempted to kill him, slashing him at the neck when he was considered deadweight. The mage thought he was going to die, until Ryuga and Scar came along. Both of them had caught up and made quick work of his brother, before returning to save his life. Without them, he would have been a dead man and although he had tried to express his thanks many times, he would always end up stuttering or the words failing to leave his mouth. That had been the way between them for the past 5 years.

As the group of Scarlet Nova mages walked down the hallways, most attendants avoided them or backed far away, not wanting to cross their path. Those that remained close had vivid discussions amongst themselves, pointing at the various mages. Some of them were loud enough for the mage to pick up.

"Look, isn't he the man they call Sparda?"

"That woman. She's the Harbringer right?"

"It seems like you two are fairly famous over here," the mage remarked, attempting to start a conversation with both of them.

"Its' not for a good reason Shinji," Ryuga addressed the other mage without looking back whereas Scar snorted in agreement.

"Oh," Shinji replied softly, slightly crestfallen that he had picked a sore topic. Well at least he tried.

After some time, they finally arrived at the artefact room. In front of the room stood a Rune Guard Captain, recognisable by the badge on the right side of his uniform. His eyes were slightly bulging out of his sockets and his movements seemed a bit rigid as shown when he opened the door very mechanically. Scar felt something was amiss with the man but she quelled her thoughts, stowing them away for later analysis.

Inside the room was Gram Dogma, the current head of the Magic Council. He had a look of frustration and disgust on his face as he gazed at the Scarlet Nova mages.

"Council Head Dogma, it is a pleasure to meet you. We are mages from Scarlet Nova and have arrived per you request." Glaive said with a warm smile as he extended out a handshake.

Gram snorted, brushing past Glaive and headed further into the room.

"I know who you are Fairy Tail brat and I don't have time for stupid formalities. Move it."

All three mages behind Glaive instantly tensed up at how rude the council head was but Glaive raised his hand, signalling for them to calm down. He still had that warm smile on his face as he followed Gram further in.

In the inner chamber, there was gigantic golden pillar of boxes, all of which were labelled with a roman numerical which glowed bright blue. Each of the boxes contained an artefact and they stacked on each other so high that even the top couldn't be seen. With a swipe of his hand, Gram brought forth a golden panel and tapped in some numbers. The hollow sphere floor in front of the panel instantly opened up, revealing the box that housed what they came for. With another click of a button, the box disintegrated to reveal the artefact that the Scarlet Nova mages had brought in 5 years ago.

In all honesty, Shinji had never seen the artefact before. He had only held the container used to house it and even that was opaque so he did not know what it looked like. So when he went to get a closer look, he was quite disappointed.

It was like any other ordinary piece of paper that was torn out from the tip of a book page. It only had two ancient letters on either side and was so small Shinji could easily fit it into his pocket. For something that was part of Zeref's books, Shinji expected something more sinister but this looked like any other paper to him. Did they really get the right thing?

Glaive, sensing Shinji's doubts, called out to him. "Shinji, try and pick it up."

"Ok," Shinji shrugged, reaching out to touch it. What could possibly happen?

The minute his finger came near the artefact, Shinji felt an immense pain shoot up his entire arm, causing him to yell and retract his hand. It was as though someone poured molten lava all over it and then stabbed it with a knife multiple times. But when Shinji rolled down his sleeves to inspect the injury, his arm was perfectly fine.

"Zeref is the most powerful black magic wizard in the history of Magic." Glaive explained. "No mere mortal would be able to touch a work of his due to the curse he placed on them. Only one who has the blood of a demon or a black magic caster would be able to come into contact with it."

Glaive then beckoned Ryuga to step forward. Ryuga enclosed his fist around the scrap of paper and Shinji watched in horror and amazement as black lines began to creep up Ryuga's arm and onto his neck. In a moment, Ryuga released the artefact, causing the black lines to vanish completely.

"It's the real deal alright. My blood is still boiling from having touched it." Ryuga grunted as he flexed his wrist and arm.

"Well then, your job is now done. So leave," grunted Gram

"Please wait a moment." Glaive asked, causing Gram to scowl. "As the team responsible for bringing this artefact here, I would like to have permission to transport it back to my guild. We have a special facility that…"

"What are you implying! Are you saying that the Magic Council is incompetent!" Gram roared in anger.

"Not at all, but I just figured that it would be best to keep it somewhere else. Ea has no mages guilds and an item like that would definitely draw the attention of the Balam Alliance. If they really want to take it, there would be no one to stop them or for you to call help from."

"Rubbish!" Gram said as he dismissed Glaive's advice. "You are no longer a Wizard Saint, so you should keep your business where it belongs."

"Don't think I don't know what you are trying to do," Gram accused, jabbing fingers at Ryuga and Scar. "You're trying to give these two monsters a power boost aren't you? Well you should just give it up. Monsters will always remain monsters, no matter how much you love them and train them. They are a bane to humanity and we should have disposed of them when we had the chance. The same goes to every damn mage that you scoop off the streets and let into your guild. They are all trash! They are worthless things that are of no use to the world of magic. They are all better off dead!"

That did it.

Glaive's smile instantly vanished. That same moment, the temperature of the room skyrocketed such that the walls started to melt from the immense heat. The pressure also soared, making it difficult to breathe as well. Alarms went off all over as sprinklers activated to try and cool the place down but even those melted too. A mini earthquake had also started, causing the artefact tower to vibrate furiously. Artefacts fell right out of their boxes and most of them disintegrated into ash even before they hit the ground.

"These kids have yet to find a place in this world. That is why we open guilds, to welcome them and protect them until they are ready for the world. Even if they have had some terrible past history, they were all victims of coincidence. There is not a single one of them that will commit evil for the joy of it. Even the one that you call monsters, if I had to point fingers the fault lies within the magic council. Wasn't Brain your handpicked assistant Gram? Look where that got us today. Not only did you not save these kids, you even tried to dispose of them and cover up the incompetency of the magic council. You may not see the potential they have but I do. They are not the monsters you have made them out to be. The real monsters are you, The Magic Council!" Glaive stated calmly, though the unbridled rage within his eyes spoke for themselves.

"These mages are all part of my family and I do not regret letting anyone of them join my guild. As such, they will be treated with respect and dignity. Try calling them trash one more time and no force in the world will stop me from tearing you apart."

Gram said nothing, the stern look on his face still holding. Deep down, he was shaking at the sheer power Glaive still possessed even after 10 years. The man did not own the title Wizard Saint for naught.

As quickly as it came, the abnormal atmospheric changes subsided. Glaive just turned and left the room, his team of mages following suit.

"Keep the artefact if you wish but I'll make myself clear. Scarlet Nova will not provide any assistance or be responsible should anything happen."

With that, the doors to the artefact room slammed shut with a resounding boom.

Down the hallways, there was absolute silence. All three mages had something to say but it was Scar that spoke first.

"Master. Thank you for defending us just now," Scar uttered, her head still down. She truly was grateful for what Glaive said.

Glaive stopped walking, turning around with a warm smile as he faced them.

"Don't worry about it. No one in Scarlet Nova is trash. You are all good children in your own different ways. As long as you are part of this guild, I will not let any harm come to you, because you are a part of my family and family watches out for one another." Glaive explained as he placed a hand on Ryuga and Scar's shoulders.

"Thank you Master," they said in unison although in a barely audible voice.

Shinji just stood at the back, watching as warmth filled his heart. It was definitely the right decision to join this guild. While he was uncertain in the past, the events today just proved that Glaive really did love every last one of them.

Never in his life did he ever feel so much pride to call himself a Scarlet Nova mage.

 **Outside the magic council building**

"Hey old man! Yes you, the one surrounded by bodyguards!" came a voice that was directed towards Glaive. The small entourage had just left the building when the voice called out to them. Glaive looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

"Up here!" the voice called again which brought Glaive's attention to a large tree.

In the highest branches of the tree sat a mage. The mage was slim and muscular, standing at an average height of 5'9. He was dark skinned with spiky sandy-blond hair, which was kept in strands jutting outwards in every direction, and a smaller, frontal cowlick of hair partially hanging over his forehead. His eyes were red and slanted with slit like pupils, the right eye having a small thin diagonal scar over it. He wore a thin brown vest, with gold lining and swirling symbols, left opened and untucked to expose his bare chest and abdomen. He wore large, baggy, black trousers with an upper portion that was lighter in colour. He accented this outfit with two small, crystal earrings in both ears, intricately designed gold bracelets on each wrist, and dark-colored bands on each of his biceps. He completed the outfit with light-colored sandals and a golden scarf bearing an eye on the region covering his forehead. Next to the mage was a green exceed. She had large pink round eyes, her fur of different shades of green with the belly region being of a lighter colour. She wore a pink top, with a yellow skirt, a flower prominent tucked behind her ear, as well as a ribbon with a flower at the end of her tail.

"You're the one that caused the spike in magic power just now, weren't you?" the mage asked.

Glaive was impressed. They were deep within the building when that happened and yet the mage could pick it up all the way from the outside. This mage had very good magical perception skills.

"Yes I did. My name is Glaive and I run a guild by the name of Scarlet Nova. You are?" Glaive asked as the mage carried his exceed with one arm and leapt off the tree.

"My name is Judar and this is Floral. We are currently looking for a guild to join." Judar explained as he landed onto the ground.

"Great, so would you like to join?" Glaive asked as he held out his hand only for Judar to raise his in rejection.

"You are strong no doubt judging from that magic spike. But feeling and seeing are two different things if you get my drift." Judar shrugged.

Glaive instantly understood where this was going and took off his cloak, handing it to Ryuga. "So you wish to fight me?"

"Yep! If you meet my expectations, I'll join your guild." Judar said with a smile as he assumed a battle stance.

"Floral is cheering for you Judar!" Floral said with joy as she bounced up and down, her hands in the air.

Glaive just stood in a relaxed stance, his left arm tucked into his pants pocket while he beckoned for Judar to come with his right. "Come on."

"With pleasure," Judar replied as sand began to swarm around his fists.

With a battle cry, Judar lunged forward.

With sand encased fists, Judar charged straight for Glaive and tried to land hits on him. While his attacks were powerful, Glaive just moved out of the way with the slightest of movements or blocked his strikes completely with his free arm. Seeing an opening, Glaive did a palm thrust into Judar's chest, sending him flying backwards. Halfway in flight, Judar caught his balance, his feet skidding against the ground. A brown magic circle formed at his mouth as his cheeks and stomach began to swell. An attack that Glaive knew all too well.

"Roar of the Sand Dragon!" Judar exclaimed as he released a tornado of sand towards Glaive. Glaive just held out his open palm in front of him and as the attack drew near, grabbed it and enclosed his fingers. The spell instantly disintegrated, spraying loose grains of sand all over the place.

"I'm not done yet!" remarked Judar as he began to cartwheel towards Glaive. This time, Sand began to cluster around his legs in the form of a vortex.

"Claw of the Sand Dragon!" cried Judar as he tried to dropkick Glaive. Even with the force behind the sand vortex, Glaive still caught his foot and threw him back. Judar tumbled on the floor once more, rolling a fair distance away before getting back up.

"Have enough yet?" Glaive asked as Judar panted heavily.

"Nope!" Judar grinned as he rushed towards Glaive again.

Glaive just sighed as he dodged Judar's blows, occasionally returning with one or two chops with his hands. No matter how he hit him; Judar just wouldn't go down, something that reminded him so much of Natsu.

Meanwhile Judar was carefully planning the timing of Glaive's strikes in between getting clobbered. Finally he found an opening in Glaive's movement and that made the grin on his face even wider.

Glaive had a look of puzzlement when he saw the boy smiling like a madman. Heck he might as well as have been Natsu himself, Glaive thought as he swung his arm at Judar's chest.

Only this time, his arm remained stuck.

The instant Glaive's arm hit "Judar", "Judar" collapsed into a clump of sand which held Glaive's arm firmly in place. Now that was an interesting turn of events.

"Shell of the Sand Dragon." Judar remarked as he ejected himself from the back of the sand shell. Once again, he let the sand flow around his arms as he prepared for his next strike. Only this time, the sand seemed to be concentrated around his fists and was currently twirling furiously.

"The final blow! Ifrit Blow of the Sand Dragon!" roared Judar as he ploughed his fist into Glaive's abdomen. The mini cyclone of sand exploded instantly on contact, releasing fierce winds which slashed all round them. This kicked up a dust storm, obscuring Judar's view of Glaive.

"I did it," Judar thought to himself, thinking that Glaive would be lying on the ground in pain. So when the dust settled, he was in for a huge surprise.

Glaive was still standing at where Judar had hit him moments ago. Let alone Glaive, his clothes weren't even torn.

"Whoa," Judar chuckled as he collapsed backwards on all fours. He was running low already on magic and he still hadn't made Glaive budge at all.

"Do you still want to continue?" Glaive asked with a smile on his face, having freed his arm from the sand shell.

"Nope, I give up. You are definitely strong." Judar grinned as he let his body hit the ground in exhaustion.

"Well then, welcome to Scarlet Nova." said Glaive as he extended his hand to Judar once more.

This time, Judar took it.

 **Magic Council Building, Ea (past midnight)**

By this time, the Scarlet Nova mages had all boarded the train and were on their way home already. Gram had dismissed Glaive's goodwill earlier, chalking it up as an ulterior motive. The only thing he did though was increase the number of Rune Knights in the hallway leading to the artefact room. While that would have proven effective against a normal thief, against the incoming intruders they might have as well been sheets of paper. They were all boxed up with nowhere to go, about to die on duty.

Suddenly alarms blared all over the magic council building. Half asleep attendants rushed to and fro as they tried to find out the cause of the alarms.

"What's going on!" Gram demanded through the communications lacrima. He was in the middle of a good night's sleep when the alarms went off.

"Intruders sir!' the attendant reported. "Two of them and they are headed to the artefact room as we speak!"

"Damn, do we have visuals?"

"No sir, they are all wearing cloaks."

"Curses!" Gram scowled as he got out of bed. He was going down there to settle this personally. "Rune Knight Teams, stand by!"

"Roger that!" the rune knight captain replied as he hurried his troops into formation. There were about a 100 rune knights in the corridor leading up to the artefact room and they all assumed formations consisting of 9 men teams. Magic guns and spears were all poised at the door leading to the hallway, ready to shoot and impale anything that came through.

The silence was so deafening that one could hear a pin drop.

And then the door opened.

The rune knights all tensed up as they anticipated the intruder but no one came through the door.

Or so they thought.

"You guys are such terrible watchdogs," came a voice from behind the first two battalions of Rune Knights. All eyes turned as they gazed at the intruder. Said person had a tall build and was currently wearing a black cloak with a hood, concealing his identity. A pair of katana blades extended from his palm as he observed the blood trickling down them. The intruder then proceeded to lick the blood off the blades before causing them to disappear down his palm. "I almost feel sorry for you."

With that the vision of everyone in the first two battalions bisected, all of them falling apart into bloody halves as they were all cut clean in half.

Screams of fear erupted from the remaining rune knights as they rapidly scrambled to regain their composure. The hooded figure merely let out a maniacal grin as he smelt the fear in the air.

That was when the second intruder appeared in the door way. He was just as tall as the first though he had a slightly broader chest. Where he walked, the blood all seemed to pool towards him. It travelled up his legs, body and onto his arms. There it began to extend and crystallise eventually forming a scythe.

"Let the hunt begin," the second intruder remarked to which the first charged.

There were screams of pain and agony as the two intruders butchered the rune knights that had foolishly decided to defend this hallway. Sounds of gunfire could be heard but none of their shots hit their marks. Some rune knights lost their will and tried to run, but found that there was no room to run as the hallway was in a single direction. Some eventually gave into pleading with intruders for mercy, only to find that there was none. Men, women, young and old, the two intruders slaughtered everything that moved. None of the rune knights in that hallway lived to see another sunrise.

By the time Gram arrived, the hallway resembled a slaughterhouse. Blood literally painted the entire hallway and body parts decorated every nook and cranny of it. Gram had to hold his breath as the wave of blood and death overwhelmed him completely. It was a massacre and Gram was sick to his gut.

Then a groan was heard. "A survivor," Gram thought to himself as he hurried over.

It was the same rune knight captain that was stationed outside the room.

"Come on, up you go!" grunted Gram as he lifted the captain to his feet.

Only to find a blade in his gut.

"What?" confusion filled Gram's eyes as he watched the captain drive the sword further into his body. At this point the Captain was laughing uncontrollably, though words seemed to be coming out of his mouth incoherently as well.

As Gram felt his consciousness slip, he noticed something gleam in the pale moonlight.

"Wires?" he thought painfully as he collapsed onto the ground.

Unknown to him, there was third intruder. This one however was located far in the mountains behind the magic council building. This intruder was a lot shorter than the other two and was currently seated up in a tree. A metallic gauntlet with wires shone brightly in the moonlight, indicating that she was responsible for the Captain's behaviour.

"Ah! There's one still alive," remarked the first intruder as he walked over the mountain of corpses. They had just claimed their bounty and were on their way out when they spotted Gram bleeding out.

"Leave him be, we need him to deliver a message for us." The second intruder snickered.

"Who…who…who are you?" Gram painfully wheezed out before his vision went black.

"It doesn't matter now does it? You just tell Glaive Heathcliff and his band of merry mages, that Orochi has returned. And we're coming for him."

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	6. The calm before the storm

**A/N:** _And so the curtain rises on the first arc. The actors have begun to gather and soon old ghosts would soon start to surface._

 _You know what this means. Dark Guild OCs submissions are now open XD. The form will be included at the bottom of this chapter so please support._

 _This chapter will be a bit shorter than usual so please bear with me because I'm sorting out most of the OC's histories as too many of them are joining around a certain time frame :P_

 _Thank you all my lovely reviewers and supporters. We've almost hit past the 50 mark and that is amazing considering the number of chapters. Couldn't have done it without you guys._

 **W. R. Winters:** _Yep, I'm so pumped up as well! Can't wait to get started. Kozmotis does seem to have a tendency to get involved in dark magic. Wonder what would happen_

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _All good things are worth waiting for haha XD. Glaive probably went easy on Gram. Killing the head of the magic council ain't such a good idea._

 **reven228:** _Thanks, hope I did well with Shinji!_

 **Fairy Lori:** _Awww, thanks! I had a lot of fun writing that chapter too XD Things are about to get really good from here out._

 **Arclin:** _Heck yeah! Scarlet Nova's mages are better than Fairy Tail's. But poor Cora, her hands are gonna be very full in the days to come._

 **Sora no Kagayaku Tsubasa:** _Yea, dark guild bashing time! Hope you enjoyed the chapter._

 **Ishiguro:** _Oooo, such a craving for destruction. You will enjoy the future chapters to come XD_

 **Credits**

 **Kaguro, Neo and Rin – Death Obelisk**

 _I do not own Fairy Tail, except my OCs._

 _Enjoy!_

 **Location Unknown**

The Dark Continent, an area not frequented by men. Its location was lost since the dawn of time and only few had the pieces of the map that lead to it. Even with the map, one still needed the key. The Dark Continent did not open for everyone. Only those with the key could enter it. The doors to the Dark Continent were scattered all across Magnolia and Alvarez but their locations too were shrouded in mystery. There were many who had claimed they had found the portal gate and led expeditions to it. They never returned and those that did were either in a coma or died eventually.

Well that was actually no surprise when if one knew who was guarding it.

As of now, there were currently two figures heading towards one of the many portals. The duo had chosen to take the longer path, walking across the mountainous regions beyond the town of Ea. While there was the option of travelling by train, it would be too suspicious. Two men wearing cloaks and reeking of blood would set alarm bells ringing long before they could get on the train. Not that it mattered to the duo. They would have easily slaughtered everyone present to keep their identities a secret but their master had orders not to give themselves away to the public.

And so they trekked through the night, attempting to reach their destination before mid day. As luck had it, they arrived at their destination just at sun rise. The distance was by no means short, extending from Ea, to Valgore and then some but the two men have learnt the need for urgency, especially during the eve of the upcoming war.

Their final destination was somewhere in the woods, inhabited by some of the most fearsome beasts known to mankind. Wyverns, Vulcans and the occasional Hydra lurked in these woods, known to devour anything that came across their path. However when the two travelers passed through, they immediately became docile, bowing their heads and staying clear of them. A sign of utmost respect and fear, something which they had all learnt the hard way.

"Can we take this thing off already?" grumbled the first figure, his voice slightly irritated. While the cloaks had special properties to conceal one's presence, they were unnecessarily hot and thick. Having worn them for the past night, the figure was eager to get rid of them.

"We're deep enough I guess." The second figure replied as he scanned his surroundings. No one should be in so deep or have followed them thus far. Even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance against either of them.

With that, both figures removed their cloaks.

The first figure was a sight to behold. Not that he was beyond handsome to make women swoon, but rather utterly disfigured. He was tall and slender, standing at about 6'5. Not much could be made about his appearance as his body was badly burnt, charred black and red. The only thing that could be discerned was his unnaturally large eyes that were yellow with red irises. His body was swathed with bandages from head to toe, revealing only the few strands of black hair left on his head. He was wearing a black robe with frayed red trims and went around bare footed. He had a smirk on his face, something that was permanently etched there due to the destruction of his facial nerves.

The second figure was a sight for sore eyes compared to the first. He had jet black hair that was at shoulder length and was swept back instead of being brushed down. He was heterochromatic with crimson red and lime green eye on the left and right respectively. This mage had a sharp and angular face with a tall build, standing at 6'7. His teeth were unnaturally sharp as a direct result of his magic, giving off a feral grin whenever he smiled. His slightly tanned skin tone was marred with stitches as far as the eye could see. For clothing, he wore a bright red trench coat with golden buttons and three tails. A chrome –colored skeletal like pattern was etched on the right side of the jacket. It was left unbuttoned to reveal his well-toned body and to finish up; he wore a pair of black jeans with a white hakama and combat boots. His knuckles were tattooed with the words gore on the right hand and blood on the left. The twin metallic bracelets on his wrists were long enough to serve as arm guards.

"Aaaah! This feels so much better!" the mummy mage said as he inhaled in the surrounding air and stretched himself. He really hated that thick piece of clothing. It stank and it was so freaking hot.

"Kaguro, you can't feel anything." The second mage deadpanned with a smirk on his face, earning him a glare from Kaguro.

"Do you want to die, Neo?" Kaguro asked as he held a blade against the jugular of Neo's neck. Even though he was under a threat, Neo hardly seemed fazed at all.

"Drop it man, you know that I can't die." Neo replied as he batted the blade away, causing Kaguro to laugh as he retracted the weapon back into his palm.

"Sorry about that. The forgetfulness of the elderly is really a terrible thing." Kaguro shrugged to which it was Neo's turn to laugh. While it wasn't entirely true that he couldn't die, his magic made him near immortal. Even so, he wasn't planning on dying just yet. At least not before until he was finally reunited with him.

As for Kaguro, he literally could not die. Because he was already dead. That was one of the main reasons why they had to wear the cloaks in the first place: to conceal Kaguro's stench and presence. A walking corpse simply would not do in the streets of Fiore.

The two mages then proceeded to walk towards a stone plate that was carved with various runes of all sorts. With a quick flick of his wrist, Kaguro shot another blade out of his palm. This one was slightly different though, being black in color and covered in a flame like pattern. His eyes scanned the runes present and upon locating the one he was looking for, he drove his sword straight through it. There was pink pulse that emitted from where the blade was inserted, coursing through the entire rock surface before vanishing into thin air. As if on cue, the two mages walked straight into the rock surface, vanishing completely as ripples indicated their entry. The split second they entered, the rock surface began to distort and cave in on itself like a black hole. Within seconds, there was no evidence that either mage or portal door had ever existed.

Inside the portal door, everything was pitched black and yet both mages seemed to know where exactly they were walking towards. They came to a stop in front of eight stone pillars. The pillars were shaped that they surrounded a black pond in a circular manner. All around the pond, there were candles that burnt with a green flame, one located beside each stone pillar. Only two remained unlit.

Both mages leapt from their position, landing on top of the two pillars with candles that were not lit. With a whoosh, the green flames came alive, signaling that all members were present.

Six shadowy silhouettes appeared on the other six pillars making it hard to discern if they were male or female. Not that it really mattered since they knew each other either way.

"Did you manage to get it," one of the figures asked, a mechanical voice interrupting the silence. Once again, this made it difficult for them to discern the gender of the member.

"Yea," Neo replied with a smirk as he held out a black lacrima. Within it contained the artifact from Zeref's book. He then proceeded to drop the lacrima into the pond, causing it to vanish which indicated its passing into the other dimension. All this while, Kaguro sat cross-legged and yawned incessantly. He just wanted this to be done and over with soon. Meetings were all so boring and that aspect of his did not change regardless dead or alive.

"With this the preparations are almost complete." A different silhouette spoke up. "Return to base soon you two. We have to prepare for his revival."

'Roger that," Neo laughed as he did a mock salute whereas Kaguro simply got up from his position. The six silhouettes then vanished and so did the green flames on their candles. Both Neo and Kaguro then jumped off the pillars, with Kaguro activating that unique blade of his once more. With a slash, he distorted the space within that dimension as he and his fellow mage stepped through the gap created.

Outside, somewhere in the valliere woods, a ripping sound could be heard as a similar slash appeared out of thin air. Out stepped Kaguro and Neo who once again began to identify their surroundings.

"I really hate that damn thing," grumbled Neo, referring to the portal gate connecting their world to the Dark Continent. After each use, the portal gate was designed in such a way that it would close in on itself and teleport to a different location. While it was meant to keep intruders out, it also served as a major hassle to relocate them.

"At least it dropped us off somewhere we know." Kaguro retorted. "Didn't your precious drop by here as well. You should be grateful for that."

"True," Neo acknowledged. His partner had decided to take a detour from their current route, saying something about stocking up on supplies and stuff. By some dumb luck they had arrived right where they had left her.

"We'll go pick her at sundown." Neo said as he surveyed the town. Meanwhile Kaguro grunted in agreement, lying against a tree for a nap to pass the time.

Below them, the town of Valgore continued to bustle with life, unknown of the two potential threats that lurked too close to home.

 **Habara, Shopping district of Valgore**

News of the breech in the magic council building has yet to spread. They were in the midst of investigations and trying desperately to find the nicest way to phrase it. They couldn't possibly mention that their incompetence had caused the most secure facility in the country to be intruded upon and that the intruders almost killed a Wizard Saint. That would have caused chaos. So until then, everything went on as usual.

"It such a bright and sunny day!" cheered Padme as she walked down the streets of Habara, the shopping district of Valgore. "And this means it's a good day for shopping!"

That earned the laughter of the rest of the mages that were following behind her. Padme really could get excited at anything. Apart from her there was Klein, Chantal, Liliana and Vali. The newest member, Gemma had also taken it upon herself to travel with the group, wishing to bond with them.

"Well, for once things are actually peaceful around here," remarked Vali as he admired the shops lining the streets. Habara had the widest variety of clothes and delicacies in the whole of Valgore. Knowing that Valgore was a mages' town, most merchants shipped large amounts of their finest goods here in hopes of making a profit.

"Oh yeah Chantal, where's Aengus?" Klein asked, noticing that her feline companion wasn't around her for once.

"He's off on a play date with the rest of the exceeds." Chantal replied with a smile on her face. "They said it was something about cats only." Despite that, deep down Chantal really hoped Aengus wasn't imparting his skills of seduction to them. One flirtatious cat was enough for the time being. At that thought, a small giggle escaped her lips.

Klein just simply watched her with a puzzled expression on his face, chalking it up as something to do with Aengus' flirtatious nature.

"So have you guys been in the guild for a long time?" Gemma asked, curious if there were any newcomers like her.

"Well, not exactly." Padme replied as she brought her hand up to her chin, thinking how many people were in the guild when she joined. "I only joined about three years ago so I don't really know who has been here for a long time."

Chantal nodded her head in agreement. She had only entered the guild last year and as such was also slightly curious as to who the founding members of the guild were.

"I've been around for about five years," Klein said with a smile on his face. "When I first joined, the guild didn't really have a lot of members. I remember seeing Shinji, Vali, Liliana, Scar, Aiden and Ryuga."

"Oooo," Padme's and Gemma's eyes were glistening at this point as they turned towards the two veterans that were travelling within the group. "Do you have any stories to tell?"

"Huh? Errr, sorry I don't remember." came Liliana's monotone reply which left both of them pouting. It wasn't that she didn't want to share, but she really could not recall anything.

Vali just sighed with a weak smile. Trust them to ask the birdbrain of the guild for stories. If she could remember what she ate for breakfast, it would be a miracle already.

"Well, I guess I could share some information with you guys." Vali spoke up, wishing to bond with other members of the guild apart from his own team. He had been with Scarlet Nova for about 7 years so he knew most of the things that went on in the guild.

"Hooray and Hoopla!" cheered Padme and Gemma as they jumped into the air for joy, causing Klein and Chantal to burst out laughing at their excitedness.

"Why not we get some food and drinks while we're at it, since this is probably going to take a while." Klein suggested which received approving nods from the rest of them.

"Ok, we'll meet at the giant fountain by the middle of Habara in an hour then." Vali said as the mages went off in their own ways. Padme with Gemma, Vali with Liliana and Klein with Chantal.

Padme and Gemma were responsible for getting the cutlery. They went to a nearby party shop and bought a set of plastic forks, plates and cups. After that, they then proceeded to a nearby clothes shop to check out some of the latest fashion trends, trying to kill some time before they went on their way.

Vali and Liliana had chosen to go for the food. They went to a bakery as they had decided to grab some sweets. In the end they ended up choosing strawberry shortcake that had sprinkles on the top as well as some hot apple pie. But given Liliana's short-term memory, she almost walked off without paying for them, earning herself shouts from the shopkeeper and Vali before she realized her mistake.

Klein and Chantal were in charge of getting the beverages for the picnic. They settled for some fruit punch that they saw was on discount in the nearby convenience store, thinking that it was a common drink for everyone to have.

On the way to the fountain, the duo passed by an accessories shop. While Klein did not really pay notice, Chantal had stopped walking and was currently staring into the shop window. Upon noticing his partner was missing, Klein traced his footsteps back to the shop, wondering what had caught her attention.

In the middle of the shop window sat a green hairpin with a pink floral design. It matched the green sweater that Chantal was currently wearing which was no surprise why she was attracted to it.

"It looks good on you," Klein remarked with a smile. Chantal turned to face him, a smile etched on her face too. "You think so?"

"Yea, totally! You should go try it on," Klein said. Chantal nodded immediately and went inside the shop with him.

"Let me help you with that," Klein suggested as he saw Chantal was currently having trouble with adjusting the hairpin. Before Chantal could say anything, Klein was onto her already, his hands combing through her hair as he rearranged the hairpin.

"Too close, too close," Chantal thought to herself. She could practically feel his breath around her neck and that was causing her face to turn beet red. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and the butterflies in her stomach had begun to dance. While she did not really hate it, she wasn't really comfortable about it either causing a well of emotions to rise up in her.

"All done," Klein said with a smile as he was finally finished. While Chantal breathed a sigh of relief internally, she also felt a pang of regret in her heart. Deep down somewhere, she really wanted the moment to last a little bit longer.

"Are you ok?" Klein asked when he saw the deep shade of red her face was in. Chantal immediately snapped out of it, waving her hands dismissively as she repeated "I'm fine. I'm fine."

"That's good." Klein said with a smile on his face. "Consider this my gift to you, Chantal."

"What for?" Chantal asked with a puzzled expression.

"Well," Klein started, rubbing the back of his head as a goofy grin came to his face. "It's been a year since you joined our team. So treat this as an anniversary present."

Now it was Chantal's turn to smile.

"Thank you, Klein." She said softly as she held the hairpin close to her heart. "I will definitely treasure this."

That smile made Klein's stomach and chest feel weird. It had been happening for a while already and it only occurred when he was near Chantal. He wasn't sure what it was but it didn't feel bad. Better to let Coraline have a look at it when she had the time, he decided.

"No, give that back! Please!" a shrill voice came by which snapped the two mages out of their thoughts. Immediately, they ran out of the store to investigate.

Out in the street, there were two young mages who seemed to be in their teens. They were dressed in black jackets and matching black pants. The taller of the two was currently holding a pair of gloves high in the air whereas the other was currently pushing against a young girl who was pleading with her arms outstretched. The girl looked like she was no older than 11 years of age, having a short and petite figure. She had wavy strawberry blond hair that was waist length with straight cut bangs. Her amethyst eyes were currently brimming with tears as she tried in vain to retrieve her belongings. She was wearing a navy bomber jacket and an olive sweetheart neckline dress with white petticoats, accompanied by navy ankle boots.

'Hey! Stop bullying the kid!" Klein demanded as he shouted out to the mages. Both mages then turned to face him, wondering who was interrupting their fun. When they saw Klein and the frosty magic that was swirling around his fists, they put two and two together. Realizing that they were dealing with a Scarlet Nova mage, they threw the gloves back to the girl and pushed her onto the ground before running off.

"Typical bullies!" Chantal remarked as she ran up to the girl. "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded fervently though she was busier inspecting the gloves, allowing Chantal to get a better look at them. They had slightly curved metal tips at the ends of each finger and a circular disk at the back of the palm region. If Chantal had known better, it look more like a weapon than an accessory.

"Thanks for helping me!" the girl said with a sweet smile as she bowed her head in gratitude.

"No problem. My name's Chantal and the gentleman behind me is Klein. What's your name?" Chantal asked gently as she knelt before the girl.

"Rin!" the girl said with a chirp in her voice.

"Are you alone Rin?"

Rin furrowed her eyebrows as she looked down at her feet and fiddled with her thumbs. "My brother is coming to pick me up, but he's only coming at sun down."

"If that's the case, why not stay with us for now. We'll take care of you till your brother returns." Klein suggested to which Rin gave an elated smile.

"Really!? Thank you so much!" she jumped with joy which caused both Klein and Chantal to give her a passionate smile.

 **Habara Fountain**

An hour later, all the mages gathered at the fountain which was at the centre of Habara. The fountain's water was lavender in color and it gave off a pleasant scent which reminded the mages of roses. It was the ideal location for a picnic.

"So who's the newcomer?" Padme asked as she noticed Rin.

"My name's Rin. Nice to meet you guys!" Rin cheered.

One by one the mages introduced themselves to the little girl, causing a wide smile to spread across her lips.

"So Vali, tell us more about the guild." Gemma said as she dug into a plate of strawberry shortcake.

"Well, Scarlet Nova was founded about three years before I joined. Back then we had a lot fewer mages due to the guild being newly formed." Vali said in between sips of his drink. "The first member of the guild was probably Ryuga and I think Aiden joined about a year before I did."

"Oh, so you know Ryuga very well?" Klein asked. While he had seen the S-class mage many a time in the guild, he didn't really talk much and was usually either reading or playing the harmonica. That really piqued his interest as to what the S-class mage was really like.

"Yea, we go way back." Vali said with a smile. "He was the one who brought me to the guild and I served as his apprentice for about half a year before joining his team."

"Sorry, but what's this apprentice thing about?" Padme asked. Chantal and Gemma nodded as well, curious on finding out. They had all joined the guild less than a year ago so they weren't very clear on some of the guild protocols as of yet.

"The apprenticeship is like a rite of passage for Scarlet Nova mages," Klein explained. "When a mage first joins Scarlet Nova, Master Glaive would assess their magic as well as their abilities. According to these two properties, he would allocate the mage an S-class mage with similar abilities to train under to refine them. About a year later, he will re-evaluate the mage to determine if they are ready to take on missions on their own. By then, the mage has the choice whether to go solo or stick as part of the S-class mage's team." Klein had been paired up with Otis when he first joined due to the similarities in their magic. When he passed his apprenticeship, he had decided to stick with Otis to train the next batch of newcomers.

"I see," Gemma said as she understood. "So who do you think I'll be paired up with?"

"I'm guessing Aiden," replied Vali, thinking of how the two of them both had a tendency to get into brawls.

"Well, I'm currently under Hikari," Padme said with a smile. While the S-class mage was hard on her at times, she knew that it was all for her sake.

That got Chantal thinking. Master Glaive hadn't really had the chance to assess her yet so she didn't know who she would be paired with yet. She didn't mind being paired with Klein though; too bad he wasn't S-class.

All the while Rin just sat in a corner drinking punch and eating cake, listening with interest as the conversation went by.

"You guys have been around for so long; I'm betting you're super strong!" commented Klein as he gazed at Liliana and Vali.

"Not re…"

"You bet!" Came Liliana's response, much to the surprise of most of the group. All this time she had remained silent while eating her cake, making them wonder how much had she actually been listening in to.

"Oooo, I wanna see!" Padme said excitedly and Gemma nodded eagerly as well. Even Klein sat up straight, anticipating some action from them.

"Guess we have no choice then," Vali sighed. He did not really like sparring but he was not one to decline a request either.

Liliana was up on her feet in an instant as well, dusting her knuckles as he prepared to spar. While she was absent minded, her mind was as clear as the day in a fight.

Both mages took a few steps forward to the right of the fountain, making sure that they had an open space to spar in. The last thing they needed was collateral damage.

The rest of the Scarlet Nova mages and Rin clustered together, interested in the spar about to take place.

"Same rules?" Liliana asked to which Vali acknowledged with a nod. "One spell only."

Liliana assumed a battle stance, a silver magic circle appearing at her feet. "Deflection: Exosuit," she called out as the magic circle travelled upwards, engulfing her entire body. When it disappeared, her appearance had changed slightly. Her entire body was now hugged by a chrome steel suit that seemed organic. It was as though a second layer of skin had been wrapped all over her, with the exception of her eyes which were now covered by a black visor. A pair of gleaming tonfas was also now attached to her forearms, glowing in the same material that the suit was.

Vali summoned forth his black staff, one of the red orbs attached to it glowing as a violet magic circle appeared. "Gate of the Ifrit King, I open thee!" he commanded as the magic circle expanded in size. "Ignatius!" There was the sound of crackling flames as a lava golem appeared. It looked as though it was made up of lava infused bricks that were piled on top of one another. Its entire body was set ablaze, eyes, mouth and arms all made of flames and lava from its body began to pool all over the floor, causing an immense amount of heat to be released.

Ignatius let out a roar and bellowed a stream of flames towards Liliana. Liliana took the attack head on, pushing through the heat as though it was nothing but a cool shower. She then swung her tonfas at Vali who retaliated with a counter from his staff.

Liliana backpedalled to avoid a fiery fist from Ignatius who then followed up with another jet of flames. Liliana shielded the blast with her left arm, deflecting the flame stream into the ground. That left her open to an attack by Vali though, who raked his staff across her back.

Not that it really mattered to Liliana who could hardly feel the impact. Instead she took the opportunity to aim a kick at Vali's chest, only for Ignatius to rush forward and take the attack for his summoner.

"Wow," breathed Gemma and Padme as they watched the two mages spar. Experience really did go a long way, given how the two mages seemed to know where to block and predict each other's moves. There was a reason why they functioned well together after all.

"Well, I guess that's it for now." Vali said as he and Liliana dispelled their magics. It was refreshing to have a spar once in a while and that also earned them the applause from the rest of their guild mates.

 **Sun down**

"Are you sure we don't need to wait for him to come?" Chantal asked with a worried face as she escorted Rin to the edge of Valgore, near the woods. She wasn't so comfortable leaving a kid alone in the dark

"Nope, it's ok. I'll be fine." Rin insisted with a smile.

"Ok then. You take care," Chantal said as she turned to leave with Rin waving back at her.

After walking halfway, Chantal stopped. She still didn't feel comfortable about it. So she turned around, only to find that Rin was already gone.

Meanwhile, Rin had already taken off into the woods, running in between trees at breakneck speeds.

"Coo Coo!" came a voice from behind one of the trees, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. That was the signal only she and her brother communicated by.

"Neo!" she exclaimed with a warm smile as she spotted the mage, running up to him for a hug. Beside him stood Kaguro, who had just awoken from his nap.

"Hello, Rin. How's the town?" Neo asked as he allowed Rin to sit on his shoulders, the normal way in which she travelled with them.

"It's so fun and lively!" Rin remarked with a smile on her face, causing Neo to grin in happiness as well. "I even managed to meet some members of brother's guild."

"How are they?" Kaguro asked, slightly curious.

"They are all super duper nice and friendly. They even gave me food!" Rin cheered before the smile on her face gradually disappeared, her expression now downcast.

"Neo, do we really have to kill them?" she asked in a quiet voice. She really did not want to do it, particularly to the two that saved her from the bullies.

Neo rubbed her head, gently as he spoke. "I know Rin, but we have to make big brother come home right? That's the only way we can achieve that."

That caused Rin's expression to brighten up again. "Yep! Big brother must come home, so all of us can be reunited as a family!"

"Enough with the family talk. Can we go home please?" Kaguro pleaded. He really wanted to go back to sleep.

"Ok!" chorused Neo and Rin in unison as the trio took off even deeper into the forest, the darkness consuming them completely.

 **A/N** _: And that's a wrap for the first chapter of the arc. Hope you guys have enjoyed it. And as promised, here is the form of Dark Guild OCs. A slight note to clarify though. Orochi is not the name of the Dark Guild but its elite executives. Both Kaguro and Neo are a part of Orochi but Rin is not so there are only six spots left in Orochi waiting to be filled._

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Personality:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Magic: (Include spells)**

 **History: (can be related to your OC or any canon character. Please do tell how they managed to join the dark guild)**

 **Who do you wish for them to fight in Scarlet Nova:**

 **Member of Orochi: (They do not necessarily have to be a part of Orochi but can be the grunts under the command of each member. If they are to be a part of Orochi, please give a reason why.)**

 **Outcome: (what happens to him in the end. KIA? Captured by Magic Council?)**


	7. Black Citadel appears

**A/N:** _Let the second chapter of the arc get started. It's time to party people!_

 _Lots of thanks to all those that have sent in OCs thus far. I would like to thank_ **Origm2012** _for providing me a list of grunts to work with. I still need a few more grunts because each Orochi member is supposed to have a few regular guild members under his or her control, so do send some more in._

 _A head-sup for you guys, updates will now be once a week or twice if I write fast. Its currently sports festival at college and I will be busy helping out this month and the next, so writing time will be scarce. But, don't worry, this story will not go on hiatus anytime soon XD_

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Orochi's members will definitely put up a good fight, I'll guarantee you that XD. Hope you'll enjoy the battles to come._

 **KingKatsu:** _I have an ideal opponent for him to face already XD_

 **madmissY01:** _Heck yea, let's get this party started. To love or to hate the villains is your choice entirely_

 **Guest:** _Sorry man, I'm gonna have to decline Wolfbane because I have already made an exception regarding Vento last time. If you want him to be added, please send him via PM instead. Thanks_

 **Sora no Kagayaku Tsubasa:** _Thanks a lot! The action starts this chapter_

 **NovaChrono:** _Hahaha, thanks for your enthusiasm regarding the story XD_

 **Origm2012:** _I'm gonna thank you for your two reviews consecutively XD. Hope Glaive was as powerful as you though he was. Things will get real good when he faces off with the master of the dark guild. And, yep, I am a HXH fan! Too bad the manga is on hiatus_ _. The Dark Continent part was something that I had inspiration from both HXH and Magi. Kaguro and Neo are also quite closely referenced to Kakuzu and Hidan as well, though their character designs are based on two separate anime character. Kudos to you if you know they are 's story will be revealed as time goes by, so stay tuned and I hope you will enjoy the story._

 **W. R. Winters:** _Kozmotis will be featured this chapter_ _. You can still send in an OC and I will review him/her. Its always nice to have more OCs_

 **Credits**

 **Muldoom – Elegant Soul**

 **Krom Angiozon – Arclin**

 **Balto Crux – NovaChrono**

 **Eiko Hinami – Sora no Kagayaku Tsubasa**

 **Sanan, Saiko, Haizen, Hiura – Death Obelisk**

 _Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1_

 _Enjoy the story!_

 **Dark Continent**

The Dark Continent, as its name suggested _,_ was utterly pitched black as compared to Earthland. There was no sun at all, causing the lands around it to be as dark as the night sky. Strangely, in the centre of the Dark Continent, things were visible to a certain degree. Right smack there was a small violet sun, illuminating just that one region in the entire of the Dark Continent. Due to the stark contrast in visibility, the light rays from that one sun managed to reach the furthest corners of the Dark Continent, providing the barest amount of light for one to see in the dark. With that one could make out the outlines of the forests which swathed the lands as well as the toxic mist that coated it. While the vegetation and shrubbery had no issues with that, it was extremely deadly to humans and animals. As a result, a barrier had been erected at the headquarters of the guild where the violet sun shone, to prevent the death of its human residents

The building itself was quite ordinary, a simple Japanese styled castle that was complete with walls and a moat. There were several towers located throughout the area, linked together by spanning bridges and the area below them were all just empty grounds, places for the henchmen of the guild to spar. The entire place was constructed with magically reinforced bricks such that no form of magic would be able to destroy the compound so easily. The centre of the structure was a rather large tower, with bridges linked to it from all the other towers. That was the area whereby members of Orochi held their regular meetings and any other member of the guild was not allowed to step foot in there unless ordered to. Disobedience meant instant death. In all, the building quite nicely represented the name of their guild.

Black Citadel, the castle amid the darkness.

There was a brief ripping sound as a gap in the dimension was distorted, opening up to reveal Neo, Kaguro and Rin who had just returned from their journey. While Neo and Kaguro did not look fatigued at all, Rin had already fallen asleep on the way back and was currently being piggybacked by Neo. Kaguro just looked on and sighed. While Neo did not mind, Kaguro had insisted that they train her stamina. Her skills were important to them and as such Kaguro needed her to stay awake for longer periods of time. At this point Neo would just remind him that Rin was just a 12 year old after all and was still in the midst of growing, so she needed all the rest she could get. With that, the discussion would end abruptly with neither mage finding any further reason to continue.

As they passed the courtyard, they witnessed a group of grunts in the midst of a brawl. Judging from the bottles of liquor lying by the side, it was probably either a drunkard or some falling out over who should have the alcohol. Whatever the case, the three of them were so immersed in their fight that none of them noticed the two Orochi members approaching. One of them had the bad luck of stepping backwards and bumping into Rin, causing her to wince ever so slightly in her sleep. Neo's eyes instantly narrowed and Kaguro smirked, knowing what was about to happen.

An immense wave of killing intent exploded from Neo, waking the three grunts from their drunken spar. While Neo looked the same as always, the pressure around him at instantly shot up, making it difficult to breathe and the surrounding air to distort. The man who had the misfortune of offending him immediately got onto his knees and begged for mercy, his two friends joining him in the pleas as well. Kaguro just sat back, waiting for the show to begin

It was all over in a second. One moment the man was on his knees, the next all his blood began seeping out of his body. The man still continued to plead incessantly despite his words become mere gargling and bubbling as the life left his body. At the end of it, a lifeless husk of skin of bone lay still in the blood that once belonged to him, his two colleagues shirking away in fear of the same outcome. Neo then continued to walk forward, stepping over the corpse and leaving bloody footprints in his tracks.

Kaguro just continued to grin. He had faced the same rage when he first recruited Neo, though the outcome was vastly different. That sheer strength was what motivated him to recruit him even more, and he did so eventually though the town they were in paid the price for it.

Meanwhile, Neo had ascended one of the many towers located in the castle to return Rin to her room. Her room was fairly simple, having white walls with a small table and a bookshelf. To the far end was a simple bed with a hand knitted blanket that seemed rather small in size. Neo proceeded to place Rin on the bed, passing her the blanket to which she held tightly despite being sound asleep. As he turned to leave, he paused to take a look at the single photograph that stood on the bookshelf.

It was a picture of him and Rin smiling, holding up some fish that they had caught. Those were the peaceful days, Neo thought to himself as he adjusted the photograph. He really hoped life would go on as normal soon but now they had a job on hand. One so important that he had to see it through no matter what. With that in mind, he left Rin to rest and left her room. Outside, Kaguro was already waiting.

"Let's go. The others are already waiting." He said and Neo nodded his head.

They then proceeded to enter the central tower, arriving at the room where members of Orochi held their regular meetings. The room was by no means big nor fancifully decorated. It just held a round table made of stone with eight red solid chairs surrounding it. A single lamp held from the ceiling and the room itself had a bird's eye view of the entire castle and some regions of the Dark Continent. In the room, there were 4 other presences. Kaguro and Neo recognized all 4 of them and also knew that not all of them were members of Orochi.

The first member of Orochi was currently seated in one of the chairs, a bored expression on his face. By the way he was twiddling with his cup of tea; it was obvious that he had waited for long. The man's appearance was rather simple, having a tanned and muscular body that stood at 6'0. He also had a light beard which he occasionally scratched when deep in thought. His frosty blue eyes and hair went well with his dark blue jacket that covered the tight fitting black T-shirt he wore. His red military style pants were tucked into black combat boots and his black guild mark was visible on the back of his right hand; an octagon with a demonic eye in the centre. In addition, a serpent shaped in the form of a five was imprinted on the side of neck; an indication that he was a member of Orochi.

The second member of Orochi was also sitting down, gazing out of the window when he turned at the sound of footsteps entering. This member was really tall, reaching an impressive height of 7'1. He was built quite muscularly, having wavy shoulder-length dark red hair and pale red eyes. A black tattoo of stitching went across the right side of his torso, ending at his throat. He was currently wearing a black coat and under it he was dark brown combat boots, loose dark grey pants, a black collared shirt and a dark red scarf. A serpent coiled in the shape of a two was visible over his heart, similar to the one the first member had. A katana with a Red Guard and black handle lay at the side of the table next to him. Despite his age, this member's looks were good enough to make women on the streets swoon, making him the ideal representative for the guild when dealing with others.

The other two people present were currently standing behind two of the seats, afraid of seating down unless ordered to. While their faces did not show it, their eyes reflected fear and respect of the other members present in the room. The first was a female mage that had blood red hair which was up to her shoulders and red eyes which she constantly kept down. She wore a dark red dress with black anklets as shoes and was currently holding a lacrima. This mage reeked of various herbs and chemicals which was a hint as to her role in the guild.

The second mage was surprisingly young compared to the rest present in the room but he looked a decade older in comparison. Not that the mage minded, since he believed it makes him look professional and more people will take him seriously. He stood at 5'6, having fair skin with a slender businessman build. He had dark blonde hair and brown eyes, wearing a set of thick black rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a light blue business shirt, gold and red striped tie, black business pants and black business shoes.

Kaguro and Neo took their respective seats at the table and the meeting began. Not that Kaguro really cared about the numbers but having at least half the members present, and the stronger half at that, was a win in his books.

"Well, this is a surprise. I didn't expect the loner to be here. What winds blew you over, Krom?" Kaguro addressed the second member.

"Cut the chatter Kaguro. I just want to get this done and over with since half of you are all spineless brats who wouldn't turn up." Krom snorted with an arrogant grin on his face.

"What was that old man? Do you wanna go?!" the other member slammed both his fists on the table, provoked by Krom's words.

"Don't get your panties in a twist Balto," Krom mocked the younger Orochi member. "it's not that you would be able to take me. Know your place."

"Knock it off you two, "Kaguro growled slowly as the other two members turned their attention to him. "Barring our master, I am the most powerful in the castle. Unless you wish to start something, I suggest that you shut up Krom. And sit down Balto."

Both members scowled as they settled back into their seats. As much as they did not like it, Kaguro's words did hit home. All members of Orochi were recruited personally by Kaguro and whether they agreed or not to join at first, Kaguro made sure of that. By defeating all of them single handedly in combat

All the while, Neo watched with interest, whistling as he sat relaxed in his chair. From that angle, the number three was visible on his left bicep.

"Well then, let's get back to the topic at hand." Kaguro said his voice all cheery again. "Eiko, report."

"Yes, sir." The female mage, identified as Eiko responded. "Currently fluid levels are holding steady. He is responding to the treatment well but his magic levels have yet to risen. With the current amount of artifacts we hold, we still are unable to revive him."

"What needs to be done?"

"We'll probably need live sacrifices. Preferably those that have magic powers so as to speed up the recovery rate. Until then, we'll have to gather more artifacts to sustain him."

Kaguro sighed inwardly. Finding Zeref's artifacts was already a major hassle and then came the problem of extracting the magic from those artifacts. Their guilds resources were slowly being bled dry due to the immense amount of energy and materials needed for the magic extraction.

"Muldoom, what's left of our budget," Kaguro asked the bespectacled mage.

"We have a few million jenny left or so. It should be enough to make another three containment units." Muldoom said with a sneer on his face. To be honest, he was quite disappointed with the guild. He was pretty sure the amount of money he had presented upon joining would earn him a position amongst Orochi but all he got was a simple accountant post. That did not sit well with him. So much for the promises he was offered when they recruited him.

"Okay then, I guess that concludes this meeting." Krom said as he got off his seat and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going Krom?" Neo asked.

"You heard Kaguro. We need more artifacts so I'm gonna go out and find some. Don't bother ordering me. I do things my way." Krom snorted as he left.

"As long as the end justifies the means, I have no objections." Kaguro shrugged as the tall and burly man exited the room.

"As for you Balto," Kaguro addressed the other Orochi member, "Go and find Vale. Your next mission awaits you there."

"Roger that," Balto sighed. Vale was somewhere over the rainbow again as usual and finding him was going to be hard as hell. Not that he had the option of complaining or refusing Kaguro.

"Neo, you get rest. I'll speak to you about your next mission soon."

"Ok then." Neo replied as he left the room, eager to spend some time with Rin again. Or better yet, to start tracking down his brother.

"The rest of you will return to your own duties. I'll be visiting our master." Kaguro announced. As he was leaving, he was stopped by Muldoom.

"Kaguro sir, I have some important message to relate to the master." Muldoom insisted, although his real objective was to promote himself to get a higher rank. He had never seen the master for his entire time he was here. Now was the perfect time since the opportunity presented itself.

"I'll tell him myself Muldoom," Kaguro replied, causing Muldoom to curse inwardly. He knew Kaguro was probably going to decline him but his power hunger got the better of him, making him ask a second time.

"It's very important. I have to speak to him directly. No one else but me can tell him this."

That caused Kaguro's eyes to narrow ever so slightly.

Without warning, a blade shot out from Kaguro's back and stabbed Muldoom in the knee.

"Arrrggghhh!" Muldoom exclaimed in pain as he fell to the ground holding his bleeding appendage. As he squirmed about, he suddenly felt a foot against his temple. It was pressing hard, very hard.

"Learn your place, maggot." Kaguro growled. "Who do you think you are to speak to the master? You aren't even a member of Orochi to start with, so what gives you the authority to order me? Don't make me repeat myself because the next time I do, I will be taking that limb of yours."

"Yes, I understand. I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries." Muldoom wheezed in pain as Kaguro removed his heel from his head and left. Eiko soon followed suit, not seeming to care when she kicked his body as she passed by.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Muldoom cursed weakly as he lay in a puddle of his own blood. Too bad there was no one to hear him this time.

 **Main Tower, Basement**

Kaguro descended the flight of stairs in the main tower which lead to the basement. As he did so, he reflected on the events that had just transpired. He had lost his cool twice within an hour and that was bugging him a lot. As the leader of Orochi, he had an image to maintain but he also had his own desires to fulfill. The way those two spoke against him, it really made him want to cut them up into bits but he had to hold back for now. Black Citadel needed all the members it could have right now, granted that Orochi did not kill off too many of the grunts for various stupid reasons. With that thought in mind, he finally reached the lowest floor.

Before him stood a circular door that reminded one of a vault. It even had a keycode and retina scanner included. While this was ironic to most that what lay behind the door was not jewels or gold, to Kaguro it was an apt protection for the person that was currently resting behind that very door.

His precious master that was worth more than anything he had ever owned in life or in death.

Kaguro instinctively knelt before the door, clearing his throat as he spoke.

"Master Moebius, I have returned."

"Ah, Kaguro. It's been a while." A raspy voice replied from behind the heavy steel door. "You have returned from your mission, I see."

"Yes, sir. We have recently recovered a page from the books of Zeref. The dark magic extracted from it has been substantial I believe?" Kaguro replied.

"Yes, I can feel its power kicking in already." The voice stated with a hint of pleasure detectable in its tone. "But I will need more of such artifacts Kaguro. I need to regain my powers more quickly."

"Of course. All preparations are already underway." Kaguro responded with utmost respect.

"Good. I have faith in you Kaguro, my most loyal aide."

"Thank you Master Moebius. I will be taking my leave now." Kaguro got up and bowed towards the door as he made a move for the shadows that lay just beyond the edge of the room.

"The four of you, come with me. We have work to do." Kaguro stated with a gleeful mug on his face as he spoke to the yawning darkness that lay in the corner of the basement. While to the naked eye, one would not be able to see anything but even without seeing, Kaguro knew that they were there.

In response to his request, four pairs of eyes opened and glowed in the dark, acknowledging his words.

Kaguro smirked as he ascended the tower's stairs once more, this time with four shadowy figures trailing behind him.

Phase II of the plan has begun.

 **Sand Dune City**

"Remind me why we are here again," grumbled Zion as he treaded through the thick sand that covered the ground. He had sand all over and in his shoes and his pants and it was really starting to itch.

"More like why you are following us Zion," Shinji retorted. "I don't recall ever inviting you on the mission."

"We both took the same mission at the same time doofus," corrected Zion which caused Shinji to glare at him. Both mages growled as they bashed skulls against one another, unwilling to give way to the other person.

"Shut up, both of you!" snapped Kozmotis as he tried to cover his ears to drone out their bickering. Why the hell did he have to come with them? He could have handled this mission on his own all by himself.

If anyone was to sigh and complain, it would have been Hanaku. Here she was, a single girl, stuck out in the middle of a god forsaken desert with three noisy and bickering guys. Why did she have to pick that mission as well?

Not that anyone would turn it down though. The pace of life at the guild was going on very slowly that day when that mission came in. To settle an agreement between two estranged parties for half a million jewels seemed too good a dream to be true. Zion and Shinji had leapt right at it the first chance they got. Kozmotis just strolled along, insisting that he needed the money and wanted in on it. Hanaku just decided to tag along, since she had nothing to do in the guild at the moment. Everyone was so hyped about it that no one even bothered to read the small print saying to bring along thick clothing and a map.

As a result, all four mages were sweating buckets and wandering aimlessly about in the desert maze.

Hanaku wiped the sweat off her brows as she adjusted her kimono as well. She would kill to take it off right now, if not for the fact that there were three males travelling with her.

Shinji's eyes darted instantly to the moment Hanaku shifted her kimono. His eyes trailed the sweat drops that fell from her neck, to her chest and then he saw a metal halberd about to pierce his eyes.

"Don't stare." She hissed, causing to Shinji to hold his hands up and back off, a small trickle of blood dripping from his nose as he let his imagination run wild for just a moment.

Kozmotis was taking the worse of it, having dressed entirely in black. He was essentially wearing an oven over himself and what better way to cook himself alive. His cane also kept seeping deeper into the sand with each step he took, causing him to scowl in frustration.

Zion on the other hand was in his element. He enjoyed the heat, basking in the sun's radiant waves. The only problem being the sand that kept entering his clothes. With every step he took, he swore he grew a little heavier from the sand accumulating in his pants.

After tracking for close to an hour, the four mages finally reached their destination, the entrance to Sand Dune City. In front of them stood an enormous compound of ancient stone ruins, the lost relics of a civilization long forgotten. An oasis was currently situated in the middle of the compound, sporting a small forest of trees around the water pool which extended to the entrance of the compound.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Zion asked as he poured out the sand in his boots. He did not see any signs of life around here apart from the shrubbery.

Kozmotis just cursed under his breath, angered at the fact that they might have wasted their time travelling out here.

"NOPE YOU GUYS HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!" boomed a voice that seemed to be coming near the water pool.

All four mages turned their attention in that direction and hastened their footsteps. When they arrived at the pool, they were greeted by the sight of five figures. The first was currently wearing a robe and hood, obscuring his face so that no one could see how he looked like. He was currently sitting on an armchair; god knows where he got it from, surrounded by four others who stood behind him. The other four were all dressed in business suits and wore black sunglasses. Their attires were all identical and the only way to differentiate them was by their hair; one green and mid-waist long, one red and spiky, one bald with a purple tattoo and one brown with a short beard.

"Excuse me, are you guys the ones who sent the request?" Hanaku asked.

"Yes we are," the hooded figure answered.

"So where are the two parties that need some conflict resolvement?" Shinji enquired. He didn't see anyone else around, except for their groups.

"Well that would be us, my boy." The hooded figure snickered.

"This is a joke isn't it?" Kozmotis snarled. He hated it when people made a fool out of him.

"On the contrary, it is not." The hooded figure responded. "We will pay you the amount, and then some if you can come to an agreement with us."

"And what would that be?" Zion asked.

"Hiura, explain." The hooded figure beckoned towards the green haired man.

"We…er…we…er…are from…errm," Hiura stammered out, causing a sweat drop to fall from the Scarlet Nova mages heads. Apparently he was not good with words or he was just overly and redundantly nervous.

"Haizen, you try." The hooded figure suggested, beckoning the bald man to speak. Haizen just opened his mouth, making some weird sound that was like a cross between a roar and a moan. This caused everyone else to face-palm in the group, including the hooded figure. He had forgotten that Haizen could not talk.

"Oh let me! Let me!" pleaded the redhead who was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Not you Saiko. Sanan, you do it." The hooded figure dismissed Saiko and addressed the brown haired man instead.

"Yes sir." Sanan replied with confidence, a stoic look on his face. "We ask that you abandon the town of Valgore and surrender everyone living in there to us."

"What!" came the collected response of all the mages present.

"The town of Valgore is ripe with life that contains large amounts of magical power." Sanan elaborated. "We, Black Citadel, require that magic power in order to further our goals. So in exchange for your assistance, we will be willing to supply you with enough money to rebuild and relocate your guild somewhere else. In addition, we promise not to harm anyone of you."

"What the hell do you think you're talking about! People's lives aren't something that can be bought with money so easily!" Shinji shouted in anger, sick at the fact that these men made light of life.

"How do you intend to harness that magic power?" Hanaku asked, though she was already pretty sure what it involved.

"Human sacrifice." Came the simple answer that confirmed her thoughts.

"Like hell we're gonna let you do that!" Zion growled as his fists started to drip with lava. "Why not we take care of you guys right now?"

"Take care of us? Don't make us laugh. It's not like mages of caliber can take us on anyway." The hooded figure smirked.

"What was that you asshole?!" Kozmotis growled with anger, the hate in his eyes visible to all. He hated people who underestimated him, and they were about to find out what happened when he was belittled. With a battlecry, he charged straight for the hooded figure, brandishing his cane in a decapitating sweep.

"I"LL KILL YOU!" he roared as he brought his weapon down.

The hooded figure vanished instantly from his seat and reappeared behind Kozmotis, just as he was leaping through midair. Kozmotis' eyes widened in surprise as he watched him appear behind him unharmed, his body still in mid-swing.

"You have a nice cane." The figure commented as he licked the blood off the blades protruding out of his palms. The only thought that went through all the mages minds was "When did he draw them?"

"Too bad it wasn't as sharp as my blades."

With that, Kozmotis' cane shattered into a million pieces and two wounds slowly appeared across his shoulders. The minute his foot touched the ground, blood erupted from the wounds, dyeing the ground and his clothes crimson red.

"What?" came Kozmotis' dumbfounded reply as he felt his consciousness slip. He hit the floor instantly, overwhelmed by the blood loss and his vision went dark.

"Kozmotis!" yelled Zion and Shinji as they watched their fellow mage fall. While they did not get along well with him, he was still a member of Scarlet Nova.

"Well, I guess negotiations have fallen through." Kaguro remarked with a smirk as he removed the hood. "Persuade them please," he spoke to Sanan and his group. With that he vanished again, this time carrying the armchair and Kozmotis' limp body. When he reappeared, he was sitting atop of a stone ruin that was high above the forest. Next to him, Kozmotis' body lay flat on the ground.

"Damn you give him back!" demanded Shinji, only for Saiko to stick out his tongue and waggle it.

"It's called a negotiation for a reason and he's the bargaining chip." Saiko cheered as he pranced about idiotically.

"Then we'll do it by force! Magma God's Sin!" Zion commanded as he fired off a disc of black magma towards the group. As the disc neared, all four of them leapt away at the last minute and took to the forest, avoiding the attack completely.

"You're gonna have to catch us first," Sanan retorted as he and his group disappeared into the shrubbery.

"After them, we can't let them get away." Hanaku said, taking off along with Zion and Shinji. They were not gonna get away that easily.

Meanwhile, Kaguro smiled as he watched the scene unfold atop his current position.

Everything was going exactly as he planned.

 **Woods Clearing**

The Scarlet Nova mages chased Kaguro's men through the forest. Despite all of them having only an average build, they were awfully fast. They mostly avoided all the spells thrown at them by a hair's breath, wasting little energy in their movement.

"What's wrong with these guys? They aren't trying to fight us and their speed is abnormal. Heck even Zephyr would be surprised at that." Shinji thought to himself. Something about this just did not feel right to him. It was almost as though they were being baited to go somewhere.

The truth soon came when the four men stopped in the middle of a clearing. All of them had grins on their faces and Saiko had his hand out, mocking the mages to come and get him.

'Why you little shrimp. I'll burn you!" Zion growled as he leapt out of the woods, into the clearing.

"Shit! It's a trap!" Shinji shouted as realization dawned on him, though it was a moment too late. All three mages had already stepped foot into the clearing and the moment they did so, a violet light glowed beneath their feet.

"Runes?" Hanaku wondered aloud as she recognized the violet inscriptions that were surrounding them in a square shape.

"Exactly," Sanan stated. "The law of this rune barrier is that all magic is nullified when anyone steps into this barrier. With this you're all defenseless."

"And here I was wondering if it was something worse." Zion breathed a sigh of relief, the confident grin returning to his face. "I can take all you scrawny bastards on by myself. You guys made the mistake of stepping in it with us so you can't use magic too. So clench those teeth and prepare for a beat down by me." With that he cracked his knuckles, a smirk written on his face as he prepared for a fight. With his superior build in body, Zion was pretty sure he could take them single handedly.

But that smirk very soon disappeared when he heard the next few words that came out of Sanan's mouth.

"Who said we used magic," Sanan asked innocently as all the other members in his group began to laugh menacingly. There was the ripping of flesh and clothes as each member underwent a partial transformation. Hiura sprouted two gigantic forearms from his back which had disgustingly large muscles and were taller than two of him put together. Haizen's jaw expanded slightly, two mandibles springing out from the sides as a green mist left his mouth. Saiko's left arm burst into three long and red tentacles, each complete with hooked barbs on the underside and a triangular blade at the tip. As for Sanan, he extended his arms sideways as two razor blades sprouted from his armpits all the way past his wrists.

"Well then. Let's continue the negotiations now."

 **With Kaguro**

From atop the ruin, Kaguro had a bird's eye view of the entire scene and he was not impressed one bit at all. The mages had arrogantly stated that they would take them out and one of them even had the gull to attack him. But from the numbers Kaguro was seeing before his eyes, it seemed that they were all bark and no bite.

"2200," he noted as he gazed at Zion.

"2000," as he turned to Shinji.

"2100," he said as he finally looked at Hanaku.

The idiot that had tried to attack him only stood at 1900, lower than the other three but those numbers were including their magic powers. Strip them of those and none of them would have even half of their original value.

"Are they really mages trained by that man?" Kaguro wondered aloud. That man's numbers were at least 10 times of theirs and he was expecting his apprentices to have at least a third of what he had. Either they were utterly confident of their skill or that they were just being big air heads who did not know how wide this world was.

Guess that ants really did not know fear until they are about to get crushed by a boot.

He really hoped Sanan's team did not obliterate them completely. It would be more of a hassle to extract their magic when they were dead but then again that was another objective altogether. The real goal lay beyond them and they were just here to kill time.

"Let's see how long they can last." Kaguro smirked as he continued to observe the fight.

 **With the rest**

"Well then, let's continue the negotiations." Sanan declared as the rest of his team sprang into action.

Haizen lifted his jaw towards the sky, spraying out copious amounts of green liquid. As the liquid rained over, it instantly corroded whatever it touched, melting it into a puddle of slush.

"Shit," cursed Zion as he and his team dodged the acidic rain. He rolled to the side and made a beeline for Haizen, intending to punch him. That was when Hiura sent a gigantic fist his way, slamming the God Slayer into the ground.

"Gah!" he coughed in pain as a trickle of blood flowed out from the side of his mouth. He felt like he had just been ran over by a truck and something somewhere was broken. He did not see Sanan descending onto him, both arm blades raised. By the time he noticed them, Hanaku was already on her way. Thrusting her twin halberds forward, she countered the strike. Still she grunted under the weight of the attack. While Sanan looked of average build, his looks were definitely deceptive. Who knew he had so much strength.

That was all the time needed for Zion to roll out from underneath them and not a moment too soon. Hanaku felt her arms give way and Sanan buried her halberds deep into the ground. Hanaku struggled to get them out, only for Sanan to kick her in the abdomen, sending her flying.

"Now that's rude!" remarked Shinji as he caught Hanaku midflight, his feet digging against the ground as he felt himself being pushed back. When he stopped, he lowered Hanaku to the ground and drew the Glock pistol located in his back pocket. He then fired controlled bursts at Haizen, intending to stop him from spewing any more acid. Unfortunately, Hiura sent one of his arms right in front of him, catching the small arms fire as though they were nothing but tiny pebbles.

"We have to get out of the barrier," Zion thought. With that he rushed for the edge of the barrier. Just as he was about to pass it, a stretch of red tentacles embedded themselves in the ground before him, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

"When the train is moving, please stand behind the line. Thank you very much!" Saiko chirped as he blocked Zion's path. Zion growled in anger, rushing forward to tear the tentacles apart.

"Oh no that won't do sir." Saiko mocked as he sent another wave of tentacles to grab Zion. "Please remain in your seat with seatbelts fastened please."

"Dammit!" Zion roared as he tried desperately to free himself. He was useless without his magic in this scenario. Even his strength was rendered ineffective. The harder he struggled, the deeper the barbs dug into him, causing him to bleed out slowly. With a simple flick, Saiko sent Zion back into the centre of the clearing causing Zion to tumble over and over.

Meanwhile, Shinji had taken it on himself to keep Sanan busy while Hanaku went to retrieve her halberds. Drawing the combat knife along his belt, he rushed for Sanan and fired his Glock repeatedly. Sanan deflected the bullets with ease, parrying Shinji's slashes without much movement. Even so Shinji pressed on, using his body weight to try and push Sanan back. He just needed to buy enough time for Hanaku to get behind them.

Seeing the opening Hanaku immediately ran behind them, her hand outstretched as she reached for her weapons. Too bad Haizen would not have any of that. He fired a glob of acid right in Hanaku's path, cutting her off from her weapons. "Crap!" she exclaimed as she backed off, Haizen firing a trail of smaller acid bullets after her. While most of them missed their marks, the few that landed began to corrode away her kimono, causing straps of cloth to fall every now and then.

If not for the situation, Shinji would already have had a nosebleed. Too bad, he had to keep his focus with Sanan who was currently holding his ground despite him pushing with all his strength. He felt something snap at his combat knife, an indication that he wasn't going to last very much longer.

"Isn't this a negotiation?" Shinji snarled at Sanan. "You're playing dirty, using force and all."

"Oh please," Sanan retorted in a monotone voice. "Wasn't it your side that requested a usage of force? Besides, we thank you for the compliment. Playing dirty is what we do best." With that, Sanan exerted just a slight more force and with a snap, Shinji's knife broke.

"Shit!" Shinji exclaimed as he felt Sanan's blade rake across his chest. The force was so great that he was sent flying back as well. Not for long though as Hiura caught him midflight with one arm. In the other was Hanaku, who was snatched off the ground while dodging Haizen's attacks at failed to see the limb before her.

Having both of them in his arms, Hiura instantly began to squeeze. The muscles on his arms clearly visible as they began to contract, crushing the mages that were in his grasp.

"Arrrrggghhhh!" Both Hanaku and Shinji screamed in pain as they felt their bones grind and snap. Hiura now had a smirk on his face, licking his lips as he watched their faces and bodies squirm with pain. Flexing both his arms, he slammed the duo together in a pancake like smash. When he removed his arms, the two mages fell limply to the ground. Hanaku was unconscious at this point and Shinji was gasping in pain. He felt his entire body burn and he couldn't move his left hand. The Glock he held was also crushed into nothing more than scrap metal, rendering the weapon useless.

Zion was in no better shape. His body was covered in cuts where Saiko's barbs had pierced him, small pools of blood forming at his feet. His abdomen was bruised black from where Hiura's fist had collided and while not visible, he had broken two of his ribs and was straining to keep himself from crying out in pain.

All three mages lay helplessly in the center as their enemies drew nearer, sick grins and sneers on their faces as they prepared to finish them off.

Was this the end for them?


	8. Orochi bares its fangs

**A/N:** _Now for the conclusion to the previous fight. With the end of this chapter, the first arc will officially begin, titled "Haunting Past". This arc will mainly feature the first dark guild Scarlet Nova faces, Black Citadel. Some members will be haunted by people from their past and others will face terrifying enemies that they have never seen before. Hope this keeps you ready for more XD_

 **Origm2012:** _Thanks for your feedback as always. More of Neo and Kaguro's pasts will be revealed as the story goes on. Hope this chapter will interest you even more, since it reveals even more about Black Citadel and their fighters._

 **Arclin:** _Haha, me too. I like power systems for villains especially since it sets the hierarchy straight which makes it more fun to come up with scenes such as insubordination. Muldoom will be featured soon XD_

 **Martyn:** _Sorry man, rules are rules. Its difficult to contact users about their OCs without PMs and I can't possibly be replying you each time you review either._

 **KingKatsu:** _In due time my friend_

 **W. R. Winters:** _Don't worry about it. Kozmotis will go ape in this chapter._

 **madmissY01:** _Don't die just yet_ _cause the next chapter's here haha_

 **Novachrono:** _Aww, thanks for the understanding._

 **Reven228:** _Thanks a bunch XD_

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Sure thing!_

 **StattStatt:** _A new reader! Yays! Hope you will enjoy the rest of the story and thanks for the feedback provided XD_

 **Anim8or:** _Great! I am glad that I managed to get Neel's personality right XD_

 **Credits**

 **Vale Sitri – Xy-Guy**

 _Please read Chp 1 for disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Scarlet Nova Guild Hall**

The news was finally released to the public that very afternoon. After days of investigation, the magic council still had no clue as to who the intruders were. As a last resort, they decided to disclose the information to the guilds in the country, hoping that at least one of them would have an idea on the attackers. Scarlet Nova was included as well, despite the minor confrontation with Gram earlier. While Glaive was not all surprised when he heard the news of the attack, what really stunned him was the message left behind by the attackers. Their target was Scarlet Nova and that put him on high alert instantly. Believing that the raid on the magic council was just the start, Glaive immediately called for an emergency meeting with the S-class mages upon his return to the guild.

"What do you guys make of it?" Glaive asked in a serious tone as he addressed the 5 S-class mages seated in the room. The air in the room was so tense one could literally slice it into two with a knife. Otis and Aiden, who were both usually cheery and battle-hungry, understood the situation well. Gone were their smiles and replaced by frowns and furrowed brows as they were lost in thought. Hikari and Ryuga were currently flipping through past records of any requests they had taken up to exterminate Dark Guilds, searching if there were any prominent ones that had the abilities to inflict such damage. Scar just had her hands on the table, pondering deeply as well.

"Nothing," Ryuga stated when the two of them had finished flipping through the request history, "All Dark Guilds that we have eliminated thus far had either no powerful mages or were all detained by the magic council."

That was one lead gone.

"Scar, you have been in the underworld for a while before you joined the guild. Have you heard any rumors of particularly strong mages or a group of them?" Aiden asked, offering his suggestion.

Scar tensed up slightly at the mention of her past, only noticed by Glaive and Ryuga. While she would have normally glared and attacked that person, she decided to let the matter slide given the gravity of the situation.

"There is one man that comes to mind," Scar finally spoke as she recalled some details of a certain mage that she had witnessed once in battle. He had fought like a berserker and judging from what she saw, he was inflicted with serious wounds but he did not falter at all. He had also managed to detect her from her position which was far away from him, choosing not to attack her but instead giving her a V –sign as acknowledgement of her presence.

"Who?" came the collected response of the rest of the group.

"Neo Hiruko."

Now it was Ryuga's turn to tense up. That name rang a bell that was all too familiar to him. His face turned slightly darker and his fists balled up instantly.

"Do elaborate," Glaive said, though his attention was now focused on Ryuga who had apparently started giving off a dark aura though it was unnoticed by anyone else.

"He's known as the Immortal in Fiore, mainly due to his Blood Manipulation magic. He's fairly well known in the underworld and amongst Dark Guilds. No one would forget the name of the man who went up against a member of Tartaros single handedly and survived. As far as I know, he was a mercenary for hire 5 years ago but there have been rumors that he had been recruited into a group about 3 years later. That's all I know of." Scar explained.

"He's still alive," Ryuga uttered softly with disbelief, though Glaive managed to catch wind of it.

"Thank you Scar." Glaive told the S-class mage who nodded her head in recognition. "Are all our mages back yet?"

"No," Otis replied. "Seras said that a small group comprising of Kozmotis, Zion, Shinji and Hanaku left earlier this morning to handle a request in Sand Dune City."

That set off alarm bells in Glaive's head. "Are there any magic vaults in the city?"

"There is one," reported Hikari as she checked the records. "It houses a sacred jewel of some kind. Scarlet Nova was in charge of transporting it over 4 years ago."

"The Maelstrom," Glaive breathed in realization. So that's what they are after.

"Get those mages back immediately. They're walking into a trap." Glaive commanded. With their current level, they wouldn't last five minutes against their enemy. Ryuga and Scar got out of their seats immediately, only for Glaive to stop them.

"Ryuga you stay here, Hikari go in his place instead."

"What! Why Master?" Ryuga protested. He really needed to go on this rescue mission. There was someone he just had to meet.

"You're too anxious for this Ryuga." Glaive explained. "Besides, we need a team here on standby as well."

Ryuga wanted to protest further but the look Glaive gave him indicated that his word was final, causing Ryuga to curse silently as he returned to his seat.

"Don't worry, we'll handle this." Hikari placed a hand on Ryuga's back in reassurance while he just nodded slightly at the action.

"Grab Cora and Blitz while you're at it too. You're gonna need to get there fast and have a medical personnel ready as well." prompted Aiden, causing the other two S-class mages to nod their heads slightly as they acknowledged his words.

With that, both Hikari and Scar were off, on their way to rescue their guild mates.

"Please stay safe, all of you." Glaive prayed silently, hoping that nothing bad has happened to them.

 **Entrance to Sand Dune City**

Unknown to Glaive, the team had already befallen misfortune. All of them had ended up in a skirmish with Kaguro's team and were currently knocking on Death's door. Two of their teammates were incapacitated already and the remaining two were also on their last legs.

"Damn it all," Zion cursed out loud as he tried to desperately remain standing. He could feel his vision getting cloudier by the minute and his knees were starting to buckle already. All around him, Kaguro's team began to box them in. With each passing second, they moved a bit closer and for the Scarlet Nova mages, one step nearer to their deaths.

Shinji was currently kneeling on the ground, his back against Zion's. Hanaku's head rested on his lap, badly bruised and swelling from where Hiura had crushed her. Despite the pain and his near broken legs, Shinji was thinking of a way to get them out of there.

"Ok, so we can't go near the edges." Shinji thought to himself, knowing that there would be nowhere to run should Sanan and company attack. "So the only way left is either up or down."

It was logical in a sense considering that magic barriers usually had a limit to being how far they could cover a certain region. If he got high enough, he could escape its effects but the only problem being was that his legs were broken and he could not jump high enough.

Then, a brainwave went through his head.

"Zion," he asked as the God Slayer turned his head. "How much strength do you have left?"

"Probably enough to hurl a person only since my left arm's busted. Why?"

"Throw me at Hiura." came Shinji's simple answer.

"What?! Are you mad?" Zion protested. He was going to indirectly cause his death!

"Trust me, I have a plan." Shinji retorted.

"But…"

"Don't but me!" Shinji snapped at Zion, dragging him by the collar down to his height. "Stop being a wuss and do it or we're all going to die here."

"Tch!" Zion growled in anger as he grabbed Shinji by the scruff of his neck, hoisting him into a javelin pose.

"I HOPE YOUR IDEA WORKS!" he roared as he launched Shinji with all his remaining strength, causing the mage to shoot towards Hiura.

"Fools. Internal struggle on the verge of death eh?" Remarked Sanan as he beckoned for Hiura to strike.

"Come on, please work." Pleaded Shinji to himself as he soared on a crash course with Hiura. Either way if the idea worked or not, they would be dead so why not take a gamble.

And the gamble paid off.

The moment Shinji got into close proximity with Hiura; Hiura sent an arm to uppercut Shinji in the jaw, sending him spiraling upwards towards the sky. That attack alone shattered Shinji's jawbone and almost snapped his neck, causing him to lose consciousness as he shot upwards. But by will and determination, Shinji opened his eyes once more, gazing painfully at the ground. This time though, he had snarky grin on his face.

'Is he mad? Why's he smiling like that?" Saiko asked as he scratched his forehead, unable to comprehend the mage's actions. Hiura and Haizen had puzzled expressions as well and only Sanan furrowed his brows, understanding the reason behind the supposed suicidal action.

"Aera: Wings" Shinji groaned weakly as he felt magic pulse through his body once more. An aquatic green magic circle appeared on his back as two white wings sprouted from him, keeping him aloft in the air. The distance between him and the ground was large enough to keep him away from Sanan's groups' attacks but close enough for him to launch his own.

With a fumbling hand, Shinji removed the gun in his right holster. This gun resembled a lot like a sawed off shot gun but with a single barrel. It had a silver cross insignia along the side and was jet black in color. Taking aim, Shinji let magic course through the weapon, causing it to glow silver as four magic circles appeared in front of the barrel. While usually he held back, Shinji decided to cut loose with everything he had. Hell it was payback time.

"Guns Magic: Vanity Volt!" Shinji called out with whatever strength he had left. Four streaks of black and purple lightning erupted from the magic circles, each thundering towards an individual member of Kaguro's group. With a mighty roar, the bolts struck their targets and pierced through them, engulfing them in a storm of lightning. Surprisingly while all Shinji's attacks hit their marks, none of Sanan's group uttered a word, simply falling over when the attack ceased. The explosion that followed soon after charred their bodies and the earth around them, destroying the barrier as well. Luckily for him, Zion had already dragged Hanaku and himself out of the barrier when Shinji's attack hit, staying clear from the blast radius.

"Are you trying to kill us too?" Zion raved at Shinji, barely having escaped the lightning and explosion. Shinji just simply shrugged his shoulders, wondering how Zion would have looked like if he was baked. But now wasn't the time for that. They still had to save Kozmotis.

"Talk later," Shinji replied, reminding Zion that they still had one more member in peril. Zion instantly understood the meaning behind his words, and carried Hanaku bridal style as he prepared to leave the clearing. At least they had won the battle for now.

Or so they thought.

"Leaving so soon," came a raspy voice from the explosion site, sending chills down Zion and Shinji's spines.

"Impossible," Shinji whispered as his eyes widened in shock and fear.

 **With Kaguro**

"Awww," Kaguro whined as he watched Shinji fry his team, both literally and figuratively. Not that he was saddened by their deaths but rather that the fight was going to end very soon.

"They've done goofed now," sighed Kaguro. So much for them wearing the human skin to stay under the radar. Once they bust that up, they won't be able to control their powers anymore.

"Well Scarlet Nova mages, it was nice knowing you." He thought to himself. They were all going to die now.

 **With Zion and company**

In the centre of the charred clearing lay 4 very charred bodies. They were what remained of Sanan and his team, utterly burnt beyond recognition. They had taken the attack head on without even bothering to guard, resulting in their bodies being mummified just like Kaguro's. Not that Shinji did not put any effort in his spell. It was one of his strongest spells, something that would have killed any lesser human or mage that was unprepared.

Too bad his enemies were neither.

"Do we really have to do this Sanan," whined a voice which was recognized to be Saiko's despite the 4 charred bodies looking exactly the same, "I really like the look I have."

"We have no choice. Either way the skin's destroyed already so we might as well go all out." Sanan replied in a monotone voice. "Let's finish this quickly."

"Roger that," replied Saiko in a dreary tone. He really did not like his true form.

With that, all four corpses exploded into a rain of blood and smoke.

"What the," Zion uttered as he shielded his eyes, unable to see anything. Shinji was having difficulty seeing as well despite his height. He was pretty sure that they exploded so when he saw the faint outlines of 4 figures through the smoke cloud, he was in for a rude shock. One of the silhouettes instantly shot up towards him and he reacted instinctively by darting backwards, missing it by mere inches. As the silhouette tore past him, it cleared up the smoke as well, allowing both mages to get a good view of them.

Neither mage was ashamed at that point when they felt something worse than fear for the very first time.

The feeling of utter despair.

The four figures that were once Sanan's team were now replaced by four gigantic behemoths. Each of them towered at 12'0, severely dwarfing the Scarlet Nova mages. With each step or breath they took, the air or earth vibrated slightly. Trails of dark energy were seen seeping out of various parts of their body and everything they touched instantly withered and died.

Sanan had revealed his true form, an enormous brown bat demon. He had two aquamarine eyes located on top one another, above a triangular jaw that was lined with narrow glinting teeth. Each of his feet sprouted three claws, large and sharp enough to snap tree like they were tooth picks. The boney appendages that formed his wings were replaced with large organic blades, forming a pair of bladed wings which looked identical to the ones he used as a human. Sanan was currently in the air, gazing over the battlefield as his form blocked out the sun completely, engulfing the area in shadows.

Hiura had transformed into a Cyclops with two sets of arms. A single crimson eye sat in the middle of what was presumed to be his face due to the lack of other identifying features such as his mouth. His green hair had also grown extraordinarily long, sweeping the floor behind him. He gave out a loud bellow as he smashed his knuckles against one another, ready to rip something to pieces.

Saiko was now a crimson squid that apparently could swim through the air. Two purple ringed eyes were located at the two sides of his triangular head that ended with a venomous barb. His tentacles had increased their numbers from just three to eight, multiplying the amount of force he could behind them.

Haizen had changed into a black and brown silkworm. He now had eight glowing eyes an two sets of jaws located above one another. Thousands of bladed appendages formed his legs and half of his body was upright, equipped with a set of barbed pincers.

All 4 of them had their sights dead set on the mages, fully intent on crushing them once and for all.

"You guys aren't human, are you?" Zion croaked out. While he was usually fearless, he was currently overwhelmed with fear, the same as anyone would when faced with a demon for the first time.

"Hmmph, indeed we aren't." Sanan confirmed. "We are lesser demons from the book of Zeref and serve under Lord Kaguro. In his name, we will destroy all of you."

With that, Sanan dive-bombed, his wings outstretched and ready to slash anything in their path. Fortunately for the mages, his larger size reduced his speed greatly, allowing them to dodge in time as Sanan hit the ground and shredded half the forest in process.

"Curses! Magma God's Sadness!" Zion charged up an arrow of black magma before firing it off into the sky. He winced slightly as he released the spell, holding back due to his injuries. The arrow arched slowly upwards before exploding into a rain of smaller magma arrows. The smaller projectiles fell all over the battlefield, dissolving whatever they touched.

"Haizen!" Sanan commanded to which the silkworm demon opened his first mouth, blasting off a cloud of green acid. The acid countered Zion's attack blow for blow, completely neutralizing it.

"My turn!" Saiko squealed as he swam towards Shinji, his head glowing red hot. Shinji narrowly dodged the thrust, firing off shots at Saiko. He watched in annoyance as the magic bullets just deflected off Saiko's slippery skin, failing to penetrate the demon.

"Try this on for size, Trident Revolver!" Shinji cried out as he fired off a trio of explosive rounds at Saiko. Saiko just cackled as he fired off jets of water from the edge of his tentacles, splitting the rounds in half and detonating them harmlessly. Saiko then rushed Shinji, spinning his tentacles in a cyclone fashion. Shinji instinctively surrounded himself with his wings in a futile attempt to guard, only for the barbed appendages to slash through his weak defense and tear at his stomach. With a scream, he was launched backwards, his blood trailing through the sky.

Meanwhile, Hiura had started ripping rocks and trees from the earth and hurling them at Zion. These were by no means small in size given Hiura's size and strength, causing Zion some problems with evading them quickly. While he had considered lowering Hanaku and distract Hiura, he was worried that they might target her instead. As a result, he ended up stopping every time a shadow was cast over him, shooting jets of lava with his free hand to destroy the rubble.

"This is not going anywhere," he exclaimed. He was running out of magic soon but his opponent seemed like he was just getting warmed up. He rolled to the side to avoid another rock hurled by Hiura before darting once again to the left to avoid an acid blast from Haizen. That was when a fist from Hiura came to his left, swatting him like an insect into a trio of trees. Zion cried out as he ploughed through the plants like they were toothpicks. He had been protecting Hanaku all the while so when the attack hit, he was practically defenseless. The moment he stopped, he coughed up a copious amount of blood, courtesy of a ruptured organ.

Shinji was not fairing so well either, simultaneously evading Saiko's aqua jets and Sanan's wings. While he had more mobility, his opponents were also considerably faster so they were currently on equal ground.

Shinji was starting to get tired, having sustained more damage than Zion. With each dodge, he could feel his consciousness starting to slip already. The blood loss was kicking in and what a bad time it was too. He fired off another few rounds at Sanan who gracefully evaded them, only for Saiko to descend from above with aqua jets blazing. Shinji winced as he felt the wounds on his chest worsening, evading the water blasts barely. At this point he couldn't think anymore and without warning he closed his eyes and began to plunge.

"You idiot! Don't sleep now!" Zion shouted at him, desperate to wake him up. His words fell on deaf ears as Shinji lost consciousness completely, his wings disappearing as well. "Shit!" Zion exclaimed as he ran for his fellow mage. If the demons didn't kill him, the fall would. Just as he neared him, Zion was halted by a blast of acid courtesy from Haizen. The moment he stopped, he watched as Hiura leapt over him, arms rose. Cursing, Zion ran again just in time as four fists plummeted the earth that he stood. While he was alright, he was far away from Shinji now. As such he watched helplessly as Sanan descended after him, fully intent on slicing him in half.

"SHINJI!" he cried out desperately.

Zion thought it was all over when the blade neared Shinji's neck. Just then, a blast black wind hit Sanan directly in the side, sending him spiraling off course. That made him avoid Shinji entirely, causing him to crash into the ground.

"Damn it! Who goes there?" Sanan roared, angry that he missed his kill. All three other demons glanced in the general direction to which the attack came from and Zion too turned his head to see his savior.

"Tch!" Scar hissed slightly as she watched the demon spot her from atop the stone pillar. She thought she had put enough magic behind that attack to kill it but apparently it wasn't enough. Concentrating, she gathered black winds around her hands once more before firing.

"Black Storm!" she called out as the wind warped into a drill like shape, tearing through the forest towards the demons. This time though, all four of them noticed the attack coming and swiftly evaded it just as the wind tore a hole through the earth.

In the mean time, Shinji had vanished from his current position. As Zion started to look for him, he too also vanished along with Hanaku. When he arrived at his new position, he saw Shinji on the ground with Cora right next to him. Behind him was Blitz, his hand currently over Zion's shoulder, indicating he was responsible for the teleportation.

"You guys alright?" Blitz asked as helped Zion to lie down, carrying Hanaku to his side as well.

"I've had better days," Zion replied in pain as he lay down, feeling his broken bones ache.

"Don't worry," Cora assured as she began to work her healing magic. "we got here just in time." This time, Zion let out a small smile. Never had he been so glad to see his guild members.

"Take care of them," came Hikari's simple instruction as she began to walk away, her fists clenched. These guys had hurt her guild mates and demons or not, she was going to destroy them.

"Wait," Protested Zion when he knew where she was headed. "I can still fight."

"Zion, you are staying put. Your injuries are too grave." Insisted Cora as she desperately tried to convince him to lie down. Zion shrugged off her hands, painfully getting up to his feet as he attempted to walk up to Hikari.

Hikari stopped in her tracks and turned to face Zion. As she gazed into his eyes, she saw neither fear nor despair. Just controlled anger that needed to be let out on those who hurt what he held dearest. Without warning, a golden magic circle appeared beneath her feet, her hand reaching out to touch Zion's chest.

"Toque de Raphael." She said silently as a brilliant glow enveloped Zion. When the glow died, Zion's injuries were completely gone and he felt his magic power recover instantly. Zion stared in disbelief at his body which was still glowing golden. He felt incredible, as though he was at maximum strength and there was no pain at all. He power also seemed to be multiplied a few times as well.

Hikari watched the mage intently, hoping he would not do anything rash later. Toque de Raphael was not a healing technique but an amplification one. For a period of time, the user would become powered up and his injuries healed completely but when the spell wore off, they would all resurface again and the damage would be accumulated, making him experience even more excruciating pain.

"Let's go." Hikari said as she took off into the woods.

"Hell yeah! Its payback time!" roared Zion as he followed suit after her.

In the meantime, Scar was handling all four demons just fine. She was like a wasp, darting about as she avoided the slower attacks hurled at her by Haizen and Hiura. With a swipe of her arms, she unleashed a slash of black wind, tearing through the attacks thrown at her and knocking both demons into the ground, causing them to roar in pain. Saiko had turned to trying to grab her at close range with his barbed tentacles, only for Scar to surround her body with razor winds, shredding the disgusting appendages as they came close. Sanan soared towards her with his blades outstretched, trying to cut her into half. Scar simply raised an arm and formed a wall of black wind to Sanan's assault. She then fired the wall of wind, sending Sanan tumbling end over end in the sky.

"Nine Tail Laser!" called out Hikari as she raised her hand, firing off nine streaks of golden lasers towards Hiura and Haizen. The two demons noticed her attacks a moment too late, roaring in pain as the laser streaked across their bodies and drew blood.

Zion decided to follow up, allowing his cheeks to swell as he charged his attack. "Magma God's Bellow!" he commanded as he fired a huge column of lava at Hiura. Hiura attempted to raise his arms to block, only for the stream to hit him straight in the chest. The demons roared in pain as he fell backwards, his chest badly scorched.

"Damn you, how dare you do that to Hiura!" Saiko screamed as he shot off a stream of aqua jets towards Hikari and Zion. Unfortunately for him, Hikari stood in his path. "Fatal Rain." She called out emotionlessly, absorbing the water blasts and transforming them into spears before firing them back at Saiko. Saiko cursed as he attempted to evade his own attack, only for a multitude of spears to pierce him and explode with blue energy. The squid demon roared in pain as he coughed out blood, swimming away to keep his distance from Scar.

 **With Kaguro**

"So it seems that Glaive has some powerful one after all." Kaguro remarked as he watched Scar and Hikari best his team like they were nothing. Even after going all out, they were still weaker than the two S-class mages in terms of raw power.

"6300 and 6100. Decent power levels." Kaguro grinned as he observed their fight. They were good, powerful enough to hold their own in a fight even against otherworldly foes like his team. He might just have to step in to fight and test their strength.

At that moment, he felt a dark aura escaping from something near his feet.

"You have got to be kidding me," Kaguro muttered aloud as he watched Kozmotis start to stand from below him. He was pretty sure he had hit his vitals with that slash, so he shouldn't be getting back up so soon. What's more surprising was the numbers dancing before Kaguro's eyes.

"2000, 2300, 3100, 4000." Kaguro was quite surprised at the least, given the measly power level this mage had started out with. Now it was even higher than most of the others down there fighting.

"I wonder," Kaguro thought to himself, but before he could finish it, a fist ploughed his face, sending him crashing into one of the other stone pillars. The owner of the fist was Kozmotis, fully awakened and very, very angry.

"Not cool man," Kaguro remarked from within the pillar as he sat there cross-legged. While the attack did take him by surprise, he had hardly any effect on him.

"YOU BASTARD! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, I SWEAR ON IT!" he roared in anger. That bastard made a fool out of him.

He made him feel pain.

He humiliated him.

He made him angry.

And he was gonna regret it now.

"Demon Eye, Open!" he snarled as he removed his eye-patch. His left eye opened slowly, revealing a deep violet color with no iris at all. All around Kozmotis, the dirt began to swell and clump together as his anger began to peak. "Nemesis!" he called out as half a dozen sand devils appeared all around him in the form of various animals. With a deafening howl, they fired blasts of dark energy from their mouths and palms, all towards the hole which he had punched Kaguro through.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" he roared with laughter as he felt all the attacks connect, not even bothering to stop when the pillar collapsed from the intensity of his attacks. Serves him right. The crime of pissing him off was death and he would make sure of that. There was going to be nothing left of Kaguro when he was done with him.

When Kozmotis finally stopped, the stone pillar was already reduced to nothing but rubble and dust. Sensing no movement or life from that direction, Kozmotis let out a loud laugh of pleasure and satisfaction, happy that he vanquished Kaguro with not a trace left.

An explosion then drew his attention towards the general direction of the rest of the Scarlet Nova mages.

"Tch! Why do I have to save their asses!" he snarled but still assumed a battle stance as he began to direct his magic towards the general direction. He licked his lips as he spotted Haizen, his first target.

"Wonder what a demon in pain sounds like," he smirked as he prepared his next spell. Oh how he was going to enjoy this.

"Demon Eye: Black Coffin!" he ordered as he manipulated the sand with wisps of dark energy. Silently, the sand around Haizen came to life. Haizen was so busy avoiding the attacks from Hikari and Zion that he failed to notice the sand beginning to constrict his lower body. Without warning, the sand tightened, rupturing his lower half. Haizen roared in pain as he attempted to escape, only to find his body completely immobile, making him a sitting duck for the rest of the Scarlet Nova mages.

"Chance!" exclaimed Zion as he noticed the trapped demon. "Magma God's Sin!" he cried out as he fired off a disc of black magma. This time his attack hit its mark, tearing deep into the skin of Haizen before exploding from the inside. Haizen bellowed as he felt his body slowly being destroyed, unable to do anything as he watched a gold magic circle appear beneath him.

"Espada de Gabriel." Hikari said emotionlessly as a blade made of lightning exploded upwards from beneath Haizen, cutting him into half. Haizen moaned softly as he felt his life slip away, the last sound he ever made before exploding into a ball of black dust.

"Haizen!" Sanan cried out as he noticed the death of one of his teammates. "Damn you!" he shrieked as he dive-bombed once more, intending on skewering Hikari and Zion for what they had done.

"You're not going anywhere." Scar remarked coldly as she appeared in front of Sanan, catching him by surprise. The winds around her hands were now extremely concentrated, such that her hands were vibrating ever so slightly from just charging up the spell.

"Shockringer!" she exclaimed as she brought both her arms down, unleashing a tornado that was laced with lightning. Unlike her previous spells, this one was larger in size and intensity, being reinforced with multiple smaller cyclones within the actual tornado itself.

"Tch!" Sanan cursed as he ducked out of the way, avoiding the spell but redirecting it to an unsuspecting Hiura. Hiura had his back turned when the spell tore through his chest, causing him to roar in pain. Even that did not last for long as the smaller cyclones began ripping his body apart piece by piece. His iron like skin did not last for long against the fierce assault, quickly shredding to pieces before Scar's fierce winds. By then, Hiura's body was entirely engulfed in the attack, helpless as it gradually closed in all around him. With a loud roar, the cyclone exploded, consuming Hiura and disintegrating him.

"Hiura!" Saiko cried in pain as he witnessed his former ally's death. It was only the two of them left and they did not stand a chance at all. While Sanan was only slightly bruised from Scar's attacks, Saiko was missing two of his tentacles and had holes in his body which were leaking black blood. The fight was lost the moment Haizen went down. He was the only one with ranged capabilities amongst them and the only way to turn the fight around was to strike from afar. Too bad the Scarlet Nova mages were not going to have any of that.

"Perish!" howled Kozmotis as he ordered his devils to fire off another barrage of dark beams towards Saiko. Zion had joined in as well, hurling clumps of magma at him. Saiko desperately spun his tentacles once more, trying to create a shield against the fierce assault. Instead it did just the opposite, ripping apart another three of his appendages. Saiko cursed aloud as he realized he was on his last legs, both figuratively and literally, unaware that Scar had snuck up behind him.

Scar brought her arm downwards, unleashing a sharp blade of wind towards Saiko, intending to cut him in half. When Saiko finally heard the whistling noise, his eyes widened even further as he watched the impending attack zero in on him, unable to do anything at this point. Luckily for him, Sanan grabbed him at just the last moment, ascending into the skies. Scar attack missed and carved a mark onto the earth, causing her to hiss in frustration at failing to kill Saiko.

"Thanks for the save," Saiko panted heavily although Sanan paid no notice at all. He was busy trying to find a way out of this mess. He could sacrifice Saiko if needed be but that did not guarantee he would walk out alive. Just as he cracked his brains for a solution, the answer came to him.

The four mages at the end of the forest.

"Saiko!" he commanded the squid demon, causing Saiko's eyes to direct their attention to him. "Listen well and listen good. Fail this and I will kill you myself, clear?"

Saiko just nodded his head in response as Sanan whispered what he wanted him to carry out.

At that point, Saiko eye-smiled. That might just preserve their lives.

"Now go!" Sanan cried out as he hurled Saiko as hard as he could into the ground. Zion and Hikari leapt back as the living projectile impacted the earth before them, tunneling through it.

"A futile attempt," Hikari remarked as she gazed at Sanan. Using his comrade as a projectile was a bad move and a useless one at that. There was no one left but him now.

Unknown to her, Sanan was smiling on the inside. His plan was working out well. Now for Saiko to do his job.

At that moment, Kozmotis noticed the ground beneath them shaking once more. "Move you fools!" he shouted, just in time for the Scarlet Nova mages to roll out of the way as Saiko tunneled out of the ground again.

But this time he was holding someone.

In each of his remaining arms, Saiko held Cora, Blitz, Hanaku and Shinji. His barbed tentacles were wrapped around them tightly enough to prevent their escape but not suc that the barbs would pierce their skin. The former two mages struggled to free themselves while the latter two just hung like ragdolls in a child's arms.

"You cowards!" Zion hissed when he noticed the hostages. "Release them now!"

"Unfortunately we won't." Sanan replied as he descended next to Saiko, his bladed wing now held inches from Cora's neck. "Not until we leave this place alive."

"You start a fight with us and now you want to leave? Have you no shame?!" Kozmotis snarled. He wanted to destroy the two of them right there and then but he feared injuring his guild mates in the process. He really hated this sort of scenarios.

"Your human codes of honor do not apply to us demons. We do as we please and we answer to nobody." Sanan replied in a serious tone. "Let us leave or your friends get it."

"Oh is that so?" came a mocking voice.

That caused everyone in the vicinity to freeze up in fear as they searched for the source of the voice. This was especially so for Kozmotis. He was sure he had wasted him.

"You guys lost already and yet you still act like sore losers," Kaguro sighed as he revealed himself to be on one of the stone pillars next to Sanan.

"Impossible," breathed Kozmotis. He hit Kaguro with everything he had in that attack and yet he didn't even have a scratch on him. Kaguro, noticing his shock, turned to face him. "You are one little boy, you know that. At least let me finish talking next time." He reprimanded Kozmotis as he wagged a finger in his face, causing the mage to hiss in anger at the insult.

"Kaguro sir, please wait a while longer. We are almost finished." pleaded Sanan. Saiko nodded his head fervently as well in an attempt to convince him.

"Nope I won't." Kaguro replied, this time with an ominous tone in his voice. Gone was that playful attitude, replaced with nothing but disgust. "You guys lack battle ethics," he said with narrowed eyes as he leapt down from his position to land right beside them. "When you lose, you don't take hostages."

Sanan was about to say something when he realized he couldn't speak anymore, a thin line slowly forming from his neck down to his pelvis. Saiko too, his eyes now diluting in color and rolling to the back of his head.

"When you lose, you die." Came Kaguro's simple reply.

With that, both Sanan and Saiko split vertically into half, warm chunks of their flesh and blood raining all over the clearing. While the two of them died instantly, the Scarlet Nova mages who were held hostage were unharmed, though horrified looks were written all over their faces.

"He just," started Hikari, the shock in her voice evident, "murdered his own allies." Scar was watching silently though the surprise in her eyes was evident. She was not expecting that from Kaguro at all despite having just met him.

"Well then," Kaguro started, his playful demeanor returning, "I apologize for my subordinates' incompetence." With that he bowed his head slightly, as though asking for forgiveness. "I would like to thank you for your assistance here. Without you guys, we couldn't have completed our mission."

That got everyone uptight again. "What mission? And when did we help you?" demanded Zion, not liking this one bit. They had just experienced a near death situation with his team and that was helping Kaguro out? Something was amiss.

"Well, there were two objectives in luring you guys out here." Kaguro stated with two fingers raised. "The first was to test your strength. While it is true that we need the magic power in Valgore for our own objectives, the main aim was to ascertain the amount of firepower we needed to claim the town based on your fighting strength." At this point Kaguro just sighed and chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" demanded Scar, the anger visible in her eyes.

"It's just so hilarious." Kaguro sniggered, unable to control his laughter. "I was expecting more from the guild whose Master put me in this shape but even with the two new arrivals," Kaguro paused mid sentence as he tilted his head in an awkward fashion to face the mages. This time though, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I could still kill all of you singlehandedly if I wanted to." He finished the tone in his voice particularly low.

That sent scowls and protests across the Scarlet Nova mages. While they refused to believe his words, they knew deep down that he could do so if he wanted to, having witnessed what just happened to Sanan and Saiko.

"What's the second objective," demanded Hikari, bringing back the topic at hand.

"Well that," Kaguro started, only to interrupted by a massive explosion. All mages turned their eyes to the site, watching as Sand Dune City went up in flames from afar.

"Would be to stop you rescuing the city." Kaguro finished, a grin etched on his face.

 **Within Sand Dune City**

Unknown to the Scarlet Nova mages, another regiment of Black Citadel was sent into the city prior to Kaguro and his team's arrival. While Kaguro was meant to stall for time, the other group had a more important job at hand.

To recover the jewel artifact within the city, no matter the cost.

To do that, they decided to overwhelm the city's defenses with force, in the form of an army of spirit warriors. The city never saw it coming. One moment everything was fine and dandy, the next moment they were under siege by an army. The city's defenders fell one after another as the warriors laid waste to anything and everything that they saw. They came in all different shapes and sizes, some wearing black and silver armor with wings of light which crushed everything they saw with their blades while others wore simple black cloaks with poisonous daggers, assassinating their targets in silence. Men, women, young or old, the warriors hunted anything that moved. Despite the desperate pleas from some citizens, the warriors ruthlessly cut them down still. The entire city was literally soaked in blood, pouring from all the bodies that were carelessly strewn around the streets. The only thing in common amongst all of the warriors was that they all wore a large hood over their heads, obscuring their faces completely.

That was not surprising considering they all came from the caster. They were not warriors of their free will, but instead part of someone's magic. This particular mage had the ability to deploy an army in an instance, delivering a strike-force whenever and wherever needed. That as why he was recruited by the guild.

As a member of Orochi.

Of course, summoning such a large army was not without its costs. Whenever he did that, he would be incapacitated for at least an hour, unable to use any magic. That probably explained why the mage was in the city's library, flipping through the ancient texts he had found. The mage had a pale well toned body which he kept in shape in case he ever got into a fight. He stood at a height of 5'11 with piercing ivory eyes and thick, unruly black hair that refuses to be tamed. His attire consisted mainly of a full suit of gold and red armor made to fit the image of a commander including a long red cape and large shoulder pads. A snake in the shape of the number seven was imprinted on the breast plate of his armor. Said mage was currently absorbed into the book he was reading, unfazed by what was going all around him.

Which was particularly frightening considering the number of corpses strewn all around the library. The floor was caked in blood and nearly half the library was destroyed, etched with claw and scorch marks. In the central hall, there stood a behemoth which would make even the bravest of men piss their pants. It was a large red, muscular, red-skinned man with a stature of 7'7 with golden gauntlets, bracers on his ankles, and a chest plate with large tusked elephant face. The being was in the midst of demolishing the rune knights in the room. They were foolish enough to confront him in small numbers and they were currently paying the price for it.

Balto watched in glee as he glanced down at his squirming opponents. With a swipe, he grabbed two of the screaming rune knights, plummeting them into the ground. When he removed his hands, there was nothing left of them but mangled bones and blood. The three remaining knights screamed in fear, trying to run away as Balto grabbed one of them by the collar. The helpless man shrieked in fear, flailing his weapon helplessly as he watched himself get swallowed by Balto whole. There was the crunching of bones and weird squelching noises from Balto mouth before all went silent. The two of his friends had collapsed in fear, refusing to believe that their comrade had just been eaten alive. "Nasty," Balto commented as he stuck out his tongue. "I thought the uglier they were, the nicer the taste." With that he spat out the man's skull towards his friends. The projectile was like an anti tank shell, tearing through the heads of the two rune knights and causing their bodies to bloom into little flowers of blood.

"Hey Vale, are you done yet?" Balto asked the other Orochi member. He had had his fill of food and fun already and was starting to get bored. He was under orders from Kaguro to protect Vale while he regenerated his magic but now that he had eaten/killed every rune knight in the city, he was itching to leave.

"Patience Balto," Vale replied without looking up from his book, still deeply interested in its contents. While his magic had returned to him some while ago, he was still waiting for something to be returned to him. As that thought passed, he heard the fluttering of wings as the windows near him exploded.

In stepped a spirit warrior which was holding a transparent box in its hand. It knelt before Vale, presenting the box to him. Within it, a violet jewel shone brightly. The main reason why they came here in the first place.

Satisfied that they had recovered the artifact, Vale closed the book he was reading and hurled it aside.

"We can go now Balto," he replied, causing the behemoth to smirk.

"Finally," Balto exclaimed as he dispelled his magic and returned to his normal size. He then tapped the open air with his finger, causing a small green ripple to appear which continued to grow in size. When it was the size of a regular human, Balto stepped through it followed by Vale, disappearing completely as they entered a different dimension. With that the ripple eventually ceased, leaving no evidence that the two mages ever visited the city.

Apart from the number corpses that lined the streets and the flames from the razed buildings.

 **With Kaguro**

"You Bastard! What have you done!" roared Zion in anger as he watched the devastation in Sand Dune City.

"What was necessary for my guild of course," replied Kaguro with a smirk. "Till we meet next time, Scarlet Nova."

Kaguro drew his black blade once more, slicing the air before him to open the portal.

"Not so fast!" cried Scar as she descended rapidly, black winds swirling around her arms. She dive-bombed for Kaguro, her fist raised and poised to strike. Though she was fast, it was too late. Her fist came inches from Kaguro before he winked out of existence, causing her to strike the ground instead.

"Damn it all!" she cursed out loud as despair washed over her. They had saved their comrades but not the hundreds of thousands that were living in the city.

Her guild mates shared her sentiments, watching helplessly as Sand Dune City was consumed by flames and razed to the ground.

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	9. The search begins

**A/N:** _Another chapter down, damn I'm good XD! Anyways future chapters will be focusing on how each team in Scarlet Nova will be undertaking missions to stop Black Citadel. What are these missions? Read more to find out. Also, I recommend taking a look at Hell's Prayer, an SYOC story by_ **KingKatsu**. _Though short, it has potential_

 **KingKatsu:** _Glad I managed to get Zion's character out good. I figure he would be like Natsu, willing to defend his guildmates to the end_

 **Arclin:** _Hahaha, glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing Shinji's fight. And crazies will be crazies, too bad they won't clash directly next time around :P Don't worry about Cora though, she'll get her big showdown with a familiar face XD_

 **Origm2012:** _Thanks for the feedback as usual. Shinji is clever daredevil bastard at the least ahaha, glad he managed to pull through. Well demons being demons have to put up a decent fight at the least, although the mages would probably wipe the floor with them if they were at full power XD. Since Vale was just introduced, I thought it would be a good way to showcase his magic right off the bat, to show why he deserves a position amongst Orochi. Hope you will enjoy this chapter as well_

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter XD_

 **W. :** _Yup! Ape is now officially Kozmotis's middle name_

 **Novachrono:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter XD_

 **Ishiguro:** _Yea, where's the fun in that XD_

 **Reven228:** _YES! POWER LEVELS XD #excited_

 **Xy-Guy:** #turntoash

 **IdentityCrisis03:** _Nice to see you back after a while_ _Hope you will continue to enjoy future chapters XD_

 **Credits**

 **Athena Summers – klbubblepop786**

 **Zora and Mara Eline – Origm2012**

 _Please refer to chapter 1 for Disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 **S-class office**

For the first time in a long while, Glaive felt fear in his heart. It wasn't that he was afraid of the enemy but rather for the safety of his mages. When Hikari and Scar's group came back, they were all beat up real badly and some of there were barely hanging on to life by a thread. When he had asked for the details, they were reluctant and he had sensed a tinge of fear in their voices. For something to scare them that badly was not natural at all.

Then came the news of the massacre in Sand Dune City. After Kaguro's exit, the mages had rushed to the city, desperate to find any survivors only to realize that there were none. The city was completely razed to the ground, wiping its existence and anyone in it off the map. While Hikari went with Coraline and Blitz to check the individual houses, Scar had gone to the magic vault located in the royal palace. There she found the ruler of Sand Dune City, lying face down in front of the open vault. His body was covered in multiple stab wounds and his face permanently etched in agony, indicating that his final hour was nothing but a swift death. The vault itself was intact with gold and jewels but the pedestal that stood in the middle of the room was empty, a rectangular layer of dust indicative that something stood there before.

While Glaive was thankful that none of the mages lost their lives in the incident, he was troubled by the loss of the Maelstrom and the unidentified mage that had ambushed Zion's group. He had never met or fought a mage named Kaguro before and that unsettled him, considering how that man knew about his guild and him. According to Scar's recount, he was more than capable of killing everyone of their group with ease but instead chose not to. He let them live, to deliver the message and spread fear amongst them. As much as Glaive would like to deny it, this was an enemy that Scarlet Nova was unprepared for.

Under normal circumstances, Glaive would have told his mages to stop all activities and remain in the guildhall at all times but the item that was stolen from Sand Dune City confirmed his worse fears. Unknown to all except the Wizard Saints and Magic Council, the Maelstrom was one of six parts to unlocking an ancient weapon. The weapon was so powerful that the magic council had tried to destroy it on multiple occasions but to no avail. As a result they chose the next best alternative: dismantling it. The six parts of the weapon were broken down and dispersed to various parts of the country. Some were relocated into magic vaults such as the one in Sand Dune City whereas the rest were permanently sealed away in magic barriers or ruins, never to be seen for all eternity. That was over 20 years ago when the disassembly happened and only the few present then knew exactly where the pieces were now.

Although Glaive was one of them, he still felt reluctance to share this information with the guild. He could not risk the lives of his family anymore but yet again if he did not, the country, no the entire world, as time knew it would be in jeopardy. With a heavy heart, Glaive weighed the choices he had on hand, trying hard to find another way around things as they were. If he told them about this, they would no doubt do everything in their power to stop it, even at the cost of their lives. If he kept mum about it, he could not guarantee their safety either. It pained him to make a choice with the given options but when push came to shove, he finally decided on one. With that thought in mind, Glaive got off his seat in the office and walked out of it, ready to address the guild.

 **Scarlet Nova Guild Hall**

Despite the number of mages in the guild hall, there was a deathly silence as they all waited for Glaive to address them. Upon his return to the guild, Glaive had announced the cancellation of all requests and jobs that the mages had on hand and for them to return to the guild within the next two days. While some of them grumbled about losing their commission and other about the last minute arrangements, none of them questioned Glaive's orders. By midday, they had all returned to the guild, just in time to watch Scar's group return as well. Despair and fear was clearly written all over their faces as they entered the guild, causing a commotion among the other mages. For both S-class mages to wear such expressions, something bad must have happened.

There was the soft creaking off the wooden boards from the second floor, attracting the attention of every mage present. As they turned their heads, they watched as Glaive slowly approached the overhang, about to make his announcement. A brief silence hung over the guild hall as Glaive collected his thoughts, having finally made his decision. With a deep breath, he finally spoke.

"Mages of Scarlet Nova," he started. "Yesterday a group of ours was attacked by a Dark Guild on the outskirts of Sand Dune City. They call themselves Black Citadel and they are unlike any Dark Guild we have faced thus far. According to the data provided by Scar and Hikari, they were only ambushed by a team of five people but amongst them were four demons from the Book of Zeref." That caused a loud murmuring to spread across the room, only silenced when Glaive raised his hand.

"Despite this," he continued. "Our mages managed to fight tooth and nail, finally defeating them. However, this came at a heavy price. The city was completely destroyed by another group from Black Citadel, all hands lost."

"Black Citadel is a powerful enemy, with mages capable of destroying armies and guilds with ease. It is of no coincidence that they came after us, being the only mages guild that was in the region. They were testing us, understanding our strengths and weakness and unfortunately for us, we passed the test. The raid on Sand Dune City was not coincidental either. They were after a certain artifact that was sealed away there: The Maelstrom. It was one of six artifacts used as a key to unlocking an ancient weapon, the sword Nulgath."

"But Master," Asuna spoke up. "It's just a sword."

"Yea," Judar chimed in as well. "One weapon does not change anything. What could it possibly do to us?"

"Time distortion."Came Glaive's simple reply, causing the Sand Dragon Slayer's eyes to widen in shock. "Nulgath is a weapon that allows its user to control the time of anything he chooses. While we do not know the objective of Black Citadel in obtaining such a weapon, we cannot let it happen right before our eyes. A weapon like that in the hands of a Dark Guild could cause catastrophic results. It would mean the end of the world and time as we know it." At this point, Glaive paused. His heart ached with the burden of what he was going to say next, something that he would regret for the rest of his life.

"As such, we have to reclaim the rest of the artifacts before Black Citadel gets to them. I will need volunteers to search for and recover the artifacts. I am not going to lie, not all of you may make it back from this. I know some of you are scared so I am not making this compulsory. Anyone that wants to leave, I will not stop nor hold any hard feelings against you." Glaive finally finished, his eyes closed as he prepared for the worst.

When he opened his eyes, he was in for a surprise.

A pleasant one.

None of the mages in the guild hall had left, all of them with determined looks on their faces.

"Nobody's going anywhere Master," Aly said with a smile on her face.

"Yea, this is our family that they are waging war on. So I say we let them have it!" Otis declared with a confident smirk on his face.

"Well I just joined the guild, so I ain't gonna let it fall just yet." Nerys replied. "I still have memories to make with this place."

"If it's a Dark Guild you need taken down, you've definitely asked the right people Master." Aiden said, bashing his knuckles against each other.

One by one, all the mages chimed in. A moment ago, they had fear and despair written on their faces but that was gone in a flash, replaced with determination and confidence as they set their minds and souls to defend their home.

"Thank you, all of you." Glaive said quietly as he fell to his knees. This time, tears fell from his eyes as he watched his guild unite together.

Never had he ever felt so proud of them before, making him not regret his decision to tell them what he knew.

When he stood once more, his eyes flashed with determination as well. It was time for war and he would make sure that Scarlet Nova would come out on top.

"All S-Class mages ready your teams to go at a notice. Meanwhile, meet me in the meeting room. I will give each of you a map as to where the artifacts are located. Your objective is simple: stop Black Citadel from obtaining any of the artifacts and defeat them if you have to. Remember, we are from Scarlet Nova. Since Black Citadel has chosen to fight with a star, we shall burn away the darkness that is them and triumph once more. WE will overcome this trial and we will win!"

"YEAH!" came the collected voices of every mage in the room, their fists raised high in the air.

And so the hunt was on.

 **Evening, en route to Ion**

Ion was a fairly remote location in Fiore. There were no towns there due to its landlocked position so no trade would occur. The last city that stood in Ion had long been evacuated and eventually forgotten, now nothing more than a ghost town. The few houses that chose to remain there belonged to old couples who were feeling sentimental about the place. They knew each other very well and have not seen a single stranger for almost a decade.

So imagine their surprise when they saw not one, not two but four mages riding horses past their houses.

"Come on," Vali said as he whipped the reins of his horse, causing it to run faster. Behind him was seated Ryuga and on the other horse were Liliana and Zephyr. While Zephyr could easily outrun the horses, Ryuga had ordered him to take the ride with them. He needed to save his energy in case Black Citadel showed up.

That afternoon, as soon as Master Glaive had distributed the map pieces to them, Ryuga's one lit up almost immediately to reveal the location of the next piece of artifact. The ethereal directions on the map had directed them to a certain ruin in Ion and Ryuga wasted no time in rushing there, wanting to get there ahead of Black Citadel. However that was only half of the reason why.

As they sped along the dirt path to the ruin, Ryuga removed the chain in his pocket to reveal a small pendent. He clicked it open, gazing at the aged picture inside it. It was a memoir from his old days at Phantom and despite his past with the guild, he still found it hard to throw the pendent away due to its sentimental value. The picture showed a younger Ryuga scowling and next to him was Neo, a trademark grin on his face. Behind them was a tanned woman, her arms around both of them and smiling brightly.

"Remember Ryuga, we're always family no matter what happens. Got that?" he recalled her saying. Every time he heard that he would always scowl and walk away, earning himself a bonk on the head by her and laughter from Neo. A small smile escaped his lips as he replayed the scene over in his mind, reminiscing the old days he had experienced.

"So what exactly are we looking for again?" Zephyr asked. "I know it's an artifact and all but I need to be sure what it looks like before I can grab it."

Although Zephyr's question was directed to Ryuga, it was evident that the S-class mage was not listening, lost in his own world. Vali, sensing that Ryuga was not going to respond, spoke up instead.

"It's a sheath Zephyr." He replied. "We're looking for Nulgath's sheath. It's supposed to be black with a red outline and a hole in the centre of it."

"I see," Zephyr said as he immediately started to imagine out what the artifact looked like. So immersed in his thoughts was he that he almost fell off the wolf when their ride came to an abrupt stop.

"Dammit Liliana. What's wrong?" Zephyr muttered as he repositioned himself. Liliana said nothing, just merely pointing straight ahead.

In front of the team was a forest. Vast sprawling trees spanned the entire dirt path, indicating that there was no way around it. The treetops were so high up that the team could not even see them, casting a large shadow over. The foliage was so closely packed that the wolves were too big to enter, having only enough space for a single person to enter.

"This isn't on the map." Vali protested as he took out the map Master Glaive had handed to them. On it indicated the small landmarks that the team was supposed to pass en route to Ion and there was no mention about a giant forest along the way.

"Maybe it grew here. It's been two decades after all." Zephyr suggested.

"Not possible," Ryuga replied as he got off the wolf's back. "Given the size of this forest, it would take at least a hundred years for it to grow to this size." He placed his hand on one of the trees, feeling for any residue of magic. The trees were real alright and they were grown naturally as well which was something that Ryuga could not explain. There was no way a forest of this magnitude could pop out of nowhere in less than half a century.

"So we walk?" Zephyr got off the wolves back as well, stretching his calves. His ass was aching from travelling on it for hours and he could not wait to start running on his own two feet.

"Hang on," Vali said as he equipped his staff and slammed it into the ground, a small ripple of energy sweeping through the forest. According to Zion, Black Citadel was adept in employing traps where people least expect them. So he decided to play it safe and scan the forest while he was at it.

"How it?" Liliana asked as she watched her partner remove his staff.

"All clean."

"Alright then. Let's go guys." Ryuga declared and walked into the forest, his three team mates following suit.

Unknown to them though, the moment all four of them entered the forest, a large tree instantly sprouted from the path they entered, effectively cutting them off from the outside world and trapping the mages inside.

 **Location Unknown**

"Neo, they are here." A seductive voice purred through the telepathic link they shared. The owner of the voice was a woman with dark green hair that cascaded down her back in a long French-braid style ponytail. She had dark green eyes and stood at 5'9. Her voluptuous figure with nice round hips and well endowed breasts caught the attention of most men but Neo was interested in her at the slightest. Her black v-necked dress went well with her figure as it showed off her assets well, accompanied by black boots and a black beret on her head. A serpent shaped in the number six was imprinted on her right breast while the mark of Black Citadel sported on her left.

"Can I kill them please? I promise that I'll leave some for you?" she half begged and moaned, desperate to see blood spilt already.

"No you won't Athena." Neo replied swiftly, her voice irritating his ears. "You will do as I tell you to. Kaguro will not be pleased if we mess this up."

"Aww come on," she whined. "At least have the little girl remove the wire around my neck. It's hard to breathe like this."

Almost invisible to the naked eye, there was single wire wrapped around Athena's neck. Despite its size, it was sharp enough to cut the woman's neck, preventing any random movements from Athena. The wire traced back to a metallic finger of a glove, the owner of whom was seated next to Athena.

"Rin, do not release it no matter what." Came Neo's response to which the girl nodded her head in silence. In Rin's hands was a black and gold sniper rifle that had silver streaks lining its body. Strangely though, the weapon was missing its ammo clip and scope but despite this, Rin had her eyes lined up where the scope usually was, her finger on the trigger.

"You're both no fun," Athena pouted. She really wanted to cut loose, especially when there were unsuspecting fools in her domain. Too bad she was paired up with Neo.

"Alright you two. You know the drill, distract him long enough for Neo to finish the rest." Athena beckoned the two figures behind her with her hand as she gave instructions.

The two figures nodded their heads and took off into the darkness, leaving Athena and Rin alone.

"Come on Rin. Do me a favor please, us being women and all." Athena asked again, a deceptively sweet smile on her face.

"No," Rin replied monotonously, her pinkie finger flexing ever so slightly.

"Tch!" Athena scowled as she felt the wire tighten by a bit more.

Realizing that this wasn't going to go anywhere, she sat quietly next to Rin, biding her time for the inevitable to happen.

 **Middle of Forest**

"Damn this place is confusing," remarked Vali as he surveyed his surroundings. They had been walking in the forest for almost an hour already with no end in sight. The trees all looked the same from where he stood and the tall canopy was also blocking out the moonlight, preventing him from estimating their current position.

"Let's just admit it," Zephyr started. "We're lost."

Beside him, Liliana stifled a yawn as she nodded her head in agreement. She was getting bored and when she was bored, she would start to fall asleep. They haven't even heard a peep in the forest thus far, let alone seen any sight of Black Citadel. "We should make camp," she suggested, her boredom getting the better of her.

"I guess so then," Vali replied. Walking aimlessly in the darkness was not a good idea. It would be best if they waited for dawn to break. At least there would be sunlight to guide them.

"Not yet," Ryuga said as he signaled for the team to stop. "Take a look."

Before them, the path had split into two different roads which lead into yawning darkness. One of them led to the west and the other to the east and the mages were standing right at the crossroads.

"Ooookkkkk…" Zephyr drawled. "Eenie Meenie Minie Moe. Catch a wizard by his toe…"

"So where now," Liliana asked, cutting Zephyr off mid speech. The map said nothing about a crossroad and their current orientation gave them no indication as to which way the ruin was.

"I guess we're splitting up." Ryuga announced. "Vali, you take charge and bring Liliana and Zephyr on the east path. I'll go on the west."

"You sure Boss man?" Zephyr asked a tinge of worry in his voice. While he was confident of Ryuga's power, he wasn't so sure about leaving him alone. Especially since they were up against opponents who could level entire cities.

"Trust me, I'll be fine." Ryuga replied with a reassuring smile as he began to walk off.

Only to realize he could not go back any more.

Large trees sprouted instantly the moment he stepped down the path, their thick trunks barricading the crossroads. Vali and company instinctively leapt back, narrowly avoiding the trees that sprouted near their feet. Cursing, Ryuga dodged and ran as more trees sprouted, chasing him further down the west path. When they finally stopped, Ryuga had lost track of how far he had travelled. Similarly, Vali, Liliana and Zephyr had ran down the eastern path to avoid the rapidly expanding shrubbery, such that when they stopped they were far away from Ryuga.

"GUYS!" Ryuga called out from his position, hoping that his team was alright. When no response returned, he scowled slightly, annoyed by the fact that he had fallen for the enemy's trap. The forest was clear of traps because the forest itself was a trap. Whatever their aim was, they had succeeded in cutting him off from his team. It was such a simple ploy that Ryuga failed to notice it, causing him to punch the nearest tree in frustration.

"Look Zora," a voice called out from the darkness, snapping Ryuga out of his thoughts. "We got the handsome one."

"I know Mara," another voice responded. "We hit the jackpot this time."

"Show yourselves," Ryuga demanded. "Stop cowering in the shadows." He preferred looking at his enemies straight in the eye when he fought them instead of having to guess where they were.

"Oh well, here we come." The first voice replied. With that, two figures in hoods descended from the top of a tree, landing meters in front of Ryuga. Both of them then removed their cloaks at the same time, revealing their appearances. Both of them had long red hair and green eyes, though one was kept in a ponytail and the other a twin tail. They were both fair skinned, skinny and around 5 and half feet tall. Both wore a black form fitting t-shirt with a singular blue and green stripe respectively across the midsection and a pair of black shorts with matching sneakers. They instantly struck Ryuga as twins, given their similarity in appearance and clothing.

"She's Zora," the ponytailed girl started.

"She's Mara," the twin tailed girl continued.

"And we're here to defeat you." They chorused together, ending in giggles.

Ryuga just sighed as he face palmed.

Why did he always have to get this type of opponents?

 **With Vali, Liliana and Zephyr**

"RYUGA!" Zephyr called out, hoping that the S-class mage could hear him but to no avail.

"What should we do?" Liliana asked, turning to Vali for advice.

"I don't know," Vali replied, at a loss as well. This was the first time their team was separated and he was considering all the options on hand. He initially thought of destroying the trees with magic but given the thickness of their trunk, it could take a long while before they could reach Ryuga. By then they would run out of magic and be defenseless if anyone attacked. Then came the option of climbing the trees but he instantly erased that idea when he realized the trees were way too steep to climb.

"Oh come on," a voice grumbled from beyond the yawning darkness, causing Vali and company to stiffen instantly. "I was pretty sure I told her to leave me alone with him. She just had to mess that up now did she."

The trudging of boots against the dirt grew louder by the second, eventually allowing The Scarlet Nova mages to get a closer look at the voice's owner.

"Shit! It's Neo Hiruko!" Zephyr exclaimed while Vali and Liliana tensed their bodies, preparing for battle. Before they left on the mission, Master Glaive had briefly told them about the mage and his abilities. If they were to put him in normal guild rankings, he would be at least S-class if not higher, making him the worst opponent that they could face currently with Ryuga not around.

"Well it seems I'm fairly famous," Neo replied with a grin on his face. Despite facing three other mages, he seemed very relaxed, lowering his guard completely before them. "I was hoping to fight Ryuga but I guess I'll have to settle with you guys for now."

"Don't make light of us!" growled Vali as he readied his staff, Liliana and Zephyr both nodding their heads with serious expressions on their faces. While they were not S-class, he wasn't going to let an enemy of the guild go just because of a difference in power level. If he did so, he could no longer hold his head high before Master Glaive or Ryuga.

"Well come on, I'm waiting." taunted Neo as he baited the mages, waving his finger to mock them.

"Speed Magic: Gear Shift!" Zephyr called out as he got into a hunter's crouch. The silver magic circle beneath his feet instantly changed color to yellow, and with a burst of sonic, Zephyr was gone.

Neo' eyes widened slightly as he felt Zephyr's presence behind him, unexpecting the boy to get there so quickly. Zephyr scowled as he pumped magic into his legs, executing his next spell at close range.

"Axial Crash!" he cried as he slammed his right leg into Neo's neck via a roundhouse kick. Neo grunted in pain as he felt something snap before he was sent flying. Halfway midflight, Zephyr reappeared before him once more, this time delivering an uppercut towards Neo's chin and sending him spiraling upwards. This continued for a while, with Zephyr disappearing in burst of static and delivering quick blows to Neo's body. From a far it looked like a game of pachinko and Neo was the ball. Sensing the right time, Vali shot forward, leaping as he raise his staff above his head.

"Deflection: Fortification" Liliana called out as she fortified Vali's staff and arms. The staff was now coated in a carbon like material that resembled diamond and Vali's arms had miniature thrusters at the end of his elbows.

"Take this!" Vali yelled as he brought his weapon down on Neo's chest, the thrusters blowing out flames as they increased his momentum. With a savage smash, Vali caused Neo to hit the ground hard, creating a miniature crater upon impact.

"Graggh!" Neo exclaimed as he coughed out copious amounts of blood, several of his bones and organs rupturing with the last attack.

Meanwhile Vali and Zephyr had returned to their comrade's side, not letting their guard down. While they had just dealt a serious beating to the Blood Mage, something was not right. Neo barely even bothered trying to defend himself, allowing himself to get hit by their attacks. It was as though he was judging their abilities, observing intently before making a move.

"Well, he's not so tough." Zephyr grinned. "We should be able to deal with him before Ryuga gets here."

"I beg to differ," came Neo's voice from the crater, causing all three pairs of eyes to widen as they watched Neo step out of it. It was not that they were shocked at his durability but rather the lack of wounds on his body where their attacks had just connected.

"That hurt man," Neo complained as he stretched his body, spitting out a mouthful of blood on the ground next to him. "But thanks for the work out."

"You bastard," Vali hissed when he realize that they were being mocked, causing Neo to raise his hands in defense.

'You guys pass alright." He said with a smile on his face. "Though I would have expected out more from his disciples. Come at me again and don't hold back this time."

'You asshole, you're going to regret you asked." Exclaimed Zephyr as he crouched once more, the yellow magic circle becoming red.

"Speed Magic: Gear Shift" Zephyr hissed as he felt his legs pump full of magic. This was his fastest speed and he was gonna make sure he caught the bastard off guard. Faster than Neo could blink, Zephyr was gone, reappearing instantly above Neo. He had his leg raised, steaks of silver running along it as he prepared to dropkick Neo.

"Burying Drop!" he uttered as he brought his leg down.

But something was faster than him.

"Blood Lance," smirked Neo a thin lance of blood shot out from the spittle of blood he just spat out, piercing Zephyr's leg and through his chest.

Zephyr winced as he bit his tongue to prevent himself from crying out in pain. He vanished once more, reappearing beside Vali as he nursed the wound of his leg and chest. It was a shallow cut, completely missing his organs and muscles and while Zephyr was grateful for that, he was also terrified internally. That meant that Neo could have killed him then if he wanted to.

"Is that your best shot boy?" Neo taunted again.

"Like hell it is!" Zephyr snarled, standing back up again. Just as he was about to rush Neo, Vali held his hand up in front of him, signaling for him to stop.

"Don't be reckless Zephyr." Vali scolded, causing the speed mage to bow his head in shame. "He's just baiting you to get closer to him."

"Well, either way you're going to have to attack," Neo shrugged. "Because if you don't, I will." As if on cue, a projectile whizzed past Neo's head, heading straight for Vali.

"Shit!" exclaimed Vali as he watched the bullet near him. It had come from where he had least expected it to and that meant two things. One, Neo had backup and two, the person was a good shot.

"Deflection: Exosuit" Liliana called out as she put herself between Neo and the bullet, her armor taking the brunt of the shot. Even with the added protection, Liliana could still feel a sting as the bullet hit her body.

"What power," she thought to herself as she deflected the round to the ground. Unlike most projectiles, this one did not explode, but rather just dropping softly to the ground and disintegrating. When Liliana examined the fragmented bullet, she was surprised.

"Wires?" she thought out aloud as she examined the purple material that made up the bullet. Although soft to the touch, when they were condensed tightly enough, their power rivaled that of real bullets. The real question was why not choosing proper firearms instead?

 **Location Unknown**

Rin's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the female mage catch her shot. For her rounds to fail to penetrate, she must be wielding some powerful defensive magic.

"Not that it matters," she thought to herself. "Try stopping this instead."

Her eyes never leaving Liliana, she began wielding her next shot. As mentioned earlier, the sniper rifle was missing a scope but even so Rin had no problem viewing Liliana from her current position. Her eyes were now a deep violet, a stark contrast to their original amethyst shade. Such was the power of her mystic eyes, Hawkeye, which allowed the user to see up to a mile away. In such a context, the scope was effectively useless.

With her free left hand, Rin flexed her fingers, forcing more violet wires to extend out of her fingertips. This time instead of having them coil into bullets, Rin fed them into the ammo box of the rifle directly.

"Wire Magic: Parasite" she uttered as the threads glowed slightly. She then proceeded to cock the rifle, taking aim at all three Scarlet Nova mages.

With her targets in sight, she pulled the trigger.

 **With Vali and company**

"Incoming!" yelled Zephyr as he heard a sharp whizzing sound through the air.

Without looking up, both Liliana and Vali leapt out of the way, just in time as another projectile embedded itself in the ground where they stood earlier.

"Damn it!" Vali cursed, spinning his staff to deflect more of the incoming shots. Liliana had activated her Exosuit as well, placing her arms in front of her chest to guard against the hail of wire bullets. Zephyr took cover behind the two of them, unable to do anything at the moment.

Meanwhile, Neo sat cross legged in front of them, watching with a bored expression on his face.

"You have got to be kidding me," He sighed. "You're having trouble with an attack like this? I think I really overestimated you guys."

That did it for Zephyr. He had taken too much of this guy's crap for the day and now he was freaking pissed. "I'M GOING TO SMITE YOU!" Zephyr howled as he ran out from behind Vali and Liliana, darting towards Neo.

"NO! YOU IDIOT!" Vali yelled, watching as the younger mage ran for Neo. Neo's expression immediately changed to a smile, albeit a creepy one as he waited for the inevitable to happen.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" Zephyr howled as he closed the gap between him and Neo, his fists raised and poised to strike. He was so blinded by his rage that he failed to notice a stray wire bullet coming in from the side, not until it was inches from his head.

"Shit!" cursed Zephyr internally as he watched the bullet near his head. Unable to do anything, he closed his eyes and waited for it to kill him.

Only to feel his body being hurled to a side.

"Ack!" Zephyr coughed as he tumbled end over end. When he finally stopped, he opened his eyes once more, widening in shock as he registered what had just happened. Liliana had her hand over her mouth, her eyes too widening in horror as she witnessed everything from afar.

Where Zephyr once stood was now Vali, a small puddle of blood forming at his feet. At the last minute, he had thrown Zephyr out of the way, allowing the bullet to pierce him in the chest. Currently he stood there motionlessly, his expression unreadable as the blood continued to flow out of the gaping wound.

"VALI!" Zephyr cried out as he ran to his comrade. As he neared Vali, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed him by the neck. Zephyr cursed slightly, thinking it was Neo but as he gazed at the clothing, he was in for a rude shock.

"Vali, what are you doing?" he wheezed only for the mage to tighten his grip even more, causing Zephyr to cough in pain.

All the while, Neo still sat there with a maniacal grin on his face. Things were going to be very interesting from here out.

 **With Ryuga**

Not knowing that his team was currently facing off with Neo, Ryuga was currently engaged in his own battle. If he had known about it, he would have dropped everything to save them but such was the bliss of ignorance.

Unlike his team, Ryuga was rather relaxed in his fight. Although it was understandable that he was stronger than his opponents, there was another factor that was in play as well. His opponents' attacks lacked the intent to kill, being executed in a manner that resembled a spar between two mages instead of a death match. That had a calming effect on Ryuga but it also kind of surprised him, given how he was told that they were up against a group of evil mages.

And yet these two seemed to be having fun.

"Lightning Cartridge" Mara cheered as she inserted a yellow clip into a solid black magnum, firing off a streak of yellow lightning towards Ryuga. While powerful, the attack was too direct, allowing Ryuga to dodge it with a sidestep. At the same time, Zora came running up to him, inserting a lacrima into her padded black gloves.

"Steel Cartridge" she cried out playfully as her gloves hardened with steel, swinging wide arching blows towards Ryuga. Ryuga darted nimbly as her punches neared, evading them with only slight body movements.

"Aren't you guys taking this too easily?" he asked in between dodging Zora's punches. "You guys are here to defeat me aren't you?"

"Yea," Zora replied with a smile. "But that doesn't mean we can't have fun while we're at it."

That actually made Ryuga laugh. Despite them being in the enemy guild, he found himself being able to relate to what she said. She was just like Zephyr. Like her, Zephyr always tried to make sparring fun, preferring to take things nice and easy while enjoying it.

"They aren't so bad," Ryuga thought to himself as he avoided another lightning blast from Mara. They were too playful to be evil and that piqued his curiosity.

"So why join Black Citadel?" he asked, leaping onto a tree branch using Zora's shoulder as a launch pad. "You guys don't strike me as sinister people."

"Nobody wanted us," Mara replied with a sad smile. "We were abandoned because of our magic and so we accepted Black Citadel's offer when they promised to give us a home." With that she loaded another clip into her magnum.

"Gale Cartridge!" she called out as she fired a blast of wind at Ryuga who leapt out of the way, shattering the ranch he stood on.

"I see," Ryuga said softly as he descended. "So we're the same." As he landed, Zora came running to him, another lacrima loaded into her gloves.

"Frost Cartridge," she called out as her gloves coated in ice, hurling ice punches at Ryuga. "We really don't want to fight you, but we have no choice. We were sworn into loyalty to the guild in exchange for a home. You have to understand." She pleaded with a sad smile.

"I understand," Ryuga replied, a sad smile on his face as well. That caused the eyes of both twins to widen, not expecting him to respond that way.

"I know what it's like to be abandoned. Everything that you once stood for going against you." He started, gazing at the two girls who had stopped their attacks and were listening intently. "I also know what it feels like to be given a second chance. Having fallen into despair, anyone would want to grab onto the hand that is offered to them."

"Like you two, I too have sworn loyalty to the guild that gave me my home, a second chance at life. For that I sympathize with your situation. If only you had chosen to join us instead." He said, the last part much quieter such that the girls could not hear him. They would have made great companions in Scarlet Nova, especially with Vento and Zephyr. It was a shame that he had to defeat them here.

"I'll make this quick and painless, for both of our sakes." Ryuga sighed, his heart aching slightly as it pained him to do so.

In a blink of an eye, Ryuga vanished before the eyes of both girls, causing them to glance around in surprise. The next moment, Ryuga had reappeared behind Mara, delivering a swift neck chop. Mara's eyes darkened upon impact, swiftly falling unconscious.

"Mara!" Zora exclaimed as she watched her sister fall, but not for long as Ryuga punched her in the gut, causing her to lose consciousness as well.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as she fell over his shoulder unharmed. Ryuga then proceeded to carry the both of them and laid them to rest under a tree side by side. Both girls had peaceful expressions on their faces, letting Ryuga breathe a sigh of relief, glad that they weren't hurt too badly.

With that he took off in the opposite direction, hoping he could make it in time to find his team.

 **With Vali and company**

"Vali, what are you doing?" Zephyr wheezed as he struggled in Vali's vice-grip. Vali hand was currently around his neck and was squeezing hard, causing the speed mage to have problems speaking and breathing.

"Vali let him go!" Liliana called out but the celestial mage did not respond. That was when Liliana got a closer look at him.

Vali's eyes were currently glazed and blurry, a dazed expression chiseled onto his face. It was as though he was under some kind of mind control and had did not know what he was doing. When she squinted her eyes, she could make out the faint lines of violet wires. They were protruding out of his entire body, as though he was like puppet on strings.

"He can't hear you," Neo chuckled as he watched Liliana's expression. "Rin's Parasite Wires take control of the host they have been injected into. His mind and body are now hers to control."

"YOU FIEND!" Liliana exploded with rage, "RELEASE HIM!"

"No can do," Neo replied in a sing song voice. "Not with an interesting show coming right up." With that, Vali hurled Zephyr headlong into Liliana, causing both mages to tumble into the dirt and crash into a tree.

"Damn!" Zephyr snarled as he took in large gasps of air, having finally been released from Vali's hand. What's he going to do now?

They watched as Vali unlimbered his staff, holding it out with both hands. Without warning, two orbs glowed on the end of the staff as Vali slammed it into the ground, a large violet magic circle appearing below him.

"He can use his magic too?!" Liliana wondered aloud in shock. This was going to be a major problem.

"Gate of the Ifrit, I open thee: Ignatius. Gate of the Fuzor, I open thee: Synchro." Vali said out monotonously, the expression on his face not changing even once. Beside him, the two celestial spirits appeared. While Liliana and Zephyr both recognized the lava golem, they had not seen the other spirit before. It was a spherical drone that has four halo rings surrounding it and a hollow green core.

Ignatius looked slightly confused, growling softly as it recognized Liliana and Zephyr. It was summoned under orders to eliminate them but they were Vali's friends weren't they, so why did Vali request for them to be destroyed?

Before Ignatius could think any further, Vali gave his next command.

"Soul Resonance," he uttered to which another magic circle formed beneath his feet, large enough to envelop both spirits as well.

Synchro beeped in response, all four halo rings glowing brightly as it aligned itself along Vali's chest. Ignatius bellowed as it felt its consciousness slipping, gradually surrendering all of its powers to Vali.

"Limiter Removal all green. Target acquired and acknowledged by both souls. Initiating fusion in 3, 2, 1." Vali continued and when he finished, he was enveloped in a bright violet light.

Liliana and Zephyr shielded their eyes from the bright light, watching with bated breath as it died down. Before them stood Vali but in a form that they did not recognize. Vali now had a large jaw guard that was coated in molten lava and his arms resembled solidified magma, jagged and ending in three claws for each hand. His staff now dripped magma as well, pooling onto the ground as he held it. On his chest there was a silver plate with a green screen, bound there by ethereal chains that wrapped around his entire chest. The screen flashed numbers, indicating 3 minutes with the counter decreasing with each passing second.

"What is that?" Zephyr breathed in shock and awe. Liliana shook her head, having no answer to that as well. In all the years they had trained as a team, never once had Vali shown this form. The amount of power radiating form it was unreal, causing her to ponder as to why Vali had kept it a secret.

Her thoughts were broken when she felt three claws wrap around her head, plummeting her into the ground. Liliana cursed slightly as she felt the impact, quickly activating her Exosuit and not a moment too soon. Vali's claws heated up instantly, unleashing a torrent of lava onto her face.

"Vali, stop this!" Zephyr called out, hoping he could wake the other mage to his senses. When Vali did not respond, Zephyr cursed internally, watching as Liliana began to submerge in a pool of lava.

"Forgive me for this!" he yelled as he charged at Vali, delivering and axe kick towards Vali's forearms. But instead of impacting like they should, his leg swept right through Vali's arm.

"What?" Zephyr thought out aloud. He had the ability to make his body intangible like Otis. As Zephyr's leg passed through mid sweep, Vali hardened his arm once more, causing Zephyr's leg to get stuck. Zephyr tried to shake himself free from the awkward position but to no avail. As a final resort, he aimed a punch at Vali's head, hoping that the impact would make him loosen up.

Only to be met by a blast of flames at point blank range from Vali's mouth. Zephyr cried out in pain as he felt the immense inferno wash over him, unable to do anything to stop it. Within seconds, third degree burns covered almost every inch of inch of his body. Zephyr moaned slightly as he felt his consciousness slip, his body going numb after the attack. Without warning, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, no longer being able to withstand the pain.

Only then did Vali release him, gazing as he burnt body hit the ground with a thud.

"ZEPHYR!" Liliana screamed as she watched her comrade went down, his body barely recognizable now. Every inch of her body wanted to rush towards him and get him out of here but she was in deep shit as well. Though the Exosuit had strong defensive capabilities, being exposed to the magma for long periods of time was starting to weaken it. She already felt parts of the suit melt away and when they were all gone, she would soon follow suit.

"Please Vali! Wake up!" she pleaded, tears flowing freely from her eyes. At this rate, he was going to end up killing her as well.

By some miracle of chance, Vali did stop, the magma flow ceasing completely. Liliana gazed up at her fellow mage, hope filling her eyes as she thought he had been released from the spell. But that hope instantly died when she heard the beeping of the timer on his chest. She was saved due to the time limit, not by Vali reawakening

The counter had finally reached zero and with a bright light, the changes on Vali became undone, disappearing into golden dust. Vali's eyes started to close, his body falling to a side as it radiated heat and steam. Before long, the celestial mage fell into unconsciousness, completely drained of his magic.

"Awww, what a letdown!" Neo whined as he watched Vali collapse next to Liliana. "Guess some things are better down yourself." With that he walked over to Vali's body and with a flick of his leg, grabbed Vali's staff that was lying on the ground.

Without warning, he stabbed Liliana through the gut with Vali's staff, piercing through her weakened Exosuit.

"Arrggghhh!" Liliana screamed in pain as blood erupted from the wound, staining Neo's body and clothes as well as the ground all around her. She tried to move her body but the hardened magma from Vali's attack held her fast in place, helpless as she watched what Neo was about to do.

"Do you know what happens if we reverse the flow of blood in a human body?" he asked, a curious expression on his face.

"You go boom!" he sniggered, a maniacal grin spreading far across his face. "Shall we try that?"

As he spoke, his finger neared her open wound, causing Liliana to widen her eyes in fear. She was going to die here, surrounded by the bodies of her friends.

"I'm sorry guys," she wept internally as tears streaked uncontrollably down her face, watching as Neo's finger was just an inch away from her.

Then, a resounding boom came from behind them, causing Neo to stop what he was planning to do. Thick tree trunks and splinters of wood flew all over the place, showering the both of them and kicking up a storm of dust.

Despite the excruciating pain, Liliana was able to make out a figure through the cloud.

A figure that she recognized.

A figure that she knew was here to save them.

"Ryuga…"she muttered weakly, the darkness soon claiming her consciousness.

Meanwhile, Neo stood up from his position, the blood from Liliana still streaked all over his face. On it he wore a warm smile, something that he had not done for over a decade.

Something that he only showed his family.

"Hello Brother."

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	10. Ryuga's past

**A/N:** _Hi guys! Sorry this chapter is slightly shorter than the rest. It may be a bit dry to some of you guys since it involves some of Ryuga and Neo's back story so please bear with me. Also some updates about the next few chapters so you guys have something to look forward to. Ryuga's team's mission will wrap up in hopefully in the next four chapters with parts of information being delivered about how the guilds intend to deal with the massacre on Sand Dune City as well as Glaive recollecting some past events. After that we will move onto Aiden's team's mission which will also cover another 5-6 chapters. So stay cool till then guys!_

 _Lots of love for my reviewers too!_

 **Martyn:** _As of now no mainly because of his age but he will spar with other Scarlet Nova mages in the future._

 **KingKatsu:** _Yep you bet! Don't mention it. It's always good to help a fellow author._

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Well not exactly_ _. Rin is not directly related to Ryuga nor Neo but that's a story for another time XD_

 **Reven228:** _Thanks a bunch and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. XD_

 **Arclin:** _Haha, I actually didn't know about it until you told me cuz I don't watch the anime, only the manga. But you're right about one thing and that's things are going to turn out vastly different from what happened in the anime :P_

 **Origm2012:** _Thanks again mate! I noticed the typo too. It was supposed to read wolves but somehow it just turned into horses. My bad. Athena will showcase more of her skills next few chapters and possibly face off against Ryuga's team. Ryuga's team was together for the longest after all, so their coordination and all is a level above most teams, not saying that the rest are bad, just that theirs is slightly better. XD I had fun writing the fight scene between the mages and I'm pleased that you enjoyed it, so thanks once again. Hope you'll update your fic soon too. Can't wait for the next chapter_

 **IdentityCrisis.03:** _Hope you enjoy this chapter as well XD_

 _Please refer to Chapter 1 for disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 _ **Flashback (18 years prior to Fic), Magic Facility**_

" _Morning Brother!" a voice chirped happily, causing a much younger Ryuga to open his eyes. He was much shorter, his silver hair smooth instead of its future spiky look. The scar down his left eye was currently missing; something that he would only gain in the near was in the middle of a sweet dream when the voice came. He dreamt that he was back in his village, living happily with his parents just like how things were before they came. They razed his village to the ground, murdered his parents before his eyes and then kidnapped him. He was loaded onto a vehicle with many other kids, most of them he recognized from his village as friends or schoolmates. While a portion of them were transported to a boat that travelled to an island offshore, the rest of them were brought into a facility deep in the heart of the country. That was over a year ago._

 _In front of Ryuga was a much younger Neo. His skin was a peach color and he still had his heterochromatic eyes, though the most noticeable feature then was the wide grin he sported. Ryuga just closed his eyes once more, ignoring Neo completely. That caused Neo to pout slightly, seeing as how Ryuga ignored him. Then a brainwave flashed, causing his grin to return again. Giggling softly, he went to Ryuga's side and tickled him, hoping that would wake him up._

 _While it did, it also earned Neo a punch in the face, causing him to lay sprawled legs akimbo across the cage._

" _Tch!" Ryuga uttered under his breath as he glared emotionlessly at the boy. He really hated that kid. He was always sticking to him like glue, bothering him constantly just because they shared the same cell. He had even taken on the habit to call Ryuga his brother, something that Ryuga detested. He just did not understand the nature of the situation they were in._

 _Long ago, the cell was not just filled with the two of them but with tens of other kids, some of which Ryuga knew personally. As the days went by however, the number slowly declined. Familiar faces eventually started disappearing after leaving the cell, never to return again. Initially Ryuga would bawl his eyes out, mourning the death of his friends but as the numbers continued to pile, he eventually chose to give up. Instead he killed every emotion within himself, refusing to acknowledge the loss and to forge any new bonds._

 _And yet Neo continued to pester him, day in and out. He had lost count of how many times he had refused the boy's attempts to get to know him. In the end he just chose to ignore Neo completely, listening to his words but never responding._

 _In the mean time, Neo had managed to sit up, a bruise now forming on his face. "That hurt," he whimpered, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. The moment he sensed Ryuga looking at him, he quickly wiped away the tears on his face, a warm smile reappearing._

" _You're finally awake Brother!" he cheered as he attempted to stand, only to fall flat on his face. "Eh?" he asked, a curious look on his face as he gazed down at his hands. Or more precisely hand. The other was currently missing, leaving nothing but an empty stump. Strangely though, no blood flowed out of the wound._

 _Ryuga sighed as he spotted the missing appendage next to his feet. He must have been too hard on Neo earlier, causing it to drop on impact. He then stood up, picking up the hand and holding it against Neo's wrist. A small stream of blood shot out of the stump, connecting to the hand and pulling it in. Within seconds it was reattached, nerves and all intact._

 _Any normal human would have freaked when they saw that but Ryuga was used to it already. Due to the experiments conducted on Neo, he knew that he was able to manipulate his blood freely although that caused a major strain on all his body parts, resulting in them breaking apart or falling off at the slightest touch. Not that it mattered, since Neo was always able to reattach them using his blood, though they did not last for long each time._

" _Thank you Brother!" Neo smiled, though Ryuga ignored it. It was just the two of them left now and his time was going to be up soon anyway. As if on cue, the alarm blared and two men in lab coats approached the cell. The magic cuffs on his hands activated, binding his arms close to each other. With that the door to the cell opened and Ryuga walked out of it obediently._

" _Bye Brother! Come back soon!" Neo cheered as he waved goodbye to Ryuga. Unknown to him, Ryuga had a sad smile on his face. This really was goodbye, forever. He was going to be freed of his suffering very soon and it was a shame that he could not see the day when Neo would too._

" _I really am going to miss that brat after all." Ryuga thought to himself as he left the cell, preparing for his last trip to the magic chamber._

 _ **Later**_

" _Everything is set to go." One scientist called out to the rest of his companions across the room as he monitored Ryuga's vital on a lacrima screen. Two of his colleagues were opposite him, wearing hazmat suits as they stood next to a bounded Ryuga. Ryuga's body was tied and secured to a wall by ethereal chains, restricting his body movement in case he tried to escape. His right hand however was left free to move about to a certain degree, being suspended by a special gauntlet that had wires hooked up to the lacrima screen._

 _In the centre of the room, a sword floated in midair, bobbing up and down ever so slightly. If the sword's shape did not give any indication of what nature it was, the black and murderous aura surrounding it certainly did. It was grey claymore that had a twin pommel grip and a spike at the end. On either side of the claymore was a skull and has red runes infused on the blade._

 _Ryuga gulped slightly when he saw the blade. Having seen and absorbed similar weapons and armors before, he could tell from a glance its power level. This one was very bad news. Instead of fear, Ryuga felt relief instead. At least this would be over soon. Even he could not absorb a weapon like this. While the demon blood they had injected into him allowed him to wield demonic weapons and armor, something of its caliber would easily rip his body apart in the accommodation process._

 _The two scientists beside him were also very nervous, seemingly affected by the blade's murderous aura that was seeping into the room._

" _What is that?" one scientist asked meekly, having seen nothing like that before in his life._

" _Balrog, the personal weapon of the demon Belphegor." The other scientist replied, his voice indicating that he was older and more experienced than his colleague. "From what I hear, it was recovered from a tomb that Zeref personally built for the demon and in the progress; it slaughtered half of the excavation unit that was sent to recover it."_

" _You mean, it's alive?!" the first scientist asked, the fear recognizable in his voice._

" _Can't you feel it?" the second replied._

 _Meanwhile the scientist at the end of the room was finalizing his preparations, pushing random buttons and levers._

" _All vitals and magic levels are stable. Commencing Test No.44 in 3, 2, 1." With that, he pushed a button, activating the gauntlet that Ryuga was currently wearing._

 _Ryuga grimaced as he felt the needles in the gauntlet stab his arm, stimulating the demon blood which lay dormant in his body. Black veins instantly appeared, extending from his arm to his palm and to the right side of his chest and face. As if drawn to a magnet, Balrog shot forward, its handle aimed straight for Ryuga's open palm. As it drew near, Ryuga's fingers unwillingly closed themselves around it, thus initiating the accommodation process._

" _ARRRGGGHHHHH!" Ryuga screamed in pain as he felt his arm begin to rip itself apart. If what he had felt before was pain, this was like being thrown into hell itself. His entire body felt as though it was being filled with molten lead, threatening to melt and burst free from within his body. Blood literally exploded from every possible area on his body, threatening to send him into shock. His eyes had rolled to the back of his head as his body shook uncontrollably, struggling to maintain its physical shape from the influx of dark energy._

 _At the other end of the room, the scientist was looking on in amazement, unable to believe the numbers that were dancing before the lacrima screen._

" _Synchronization rate rising," he breathed. "50%, 62%, 77%, 89%, 91%." All the while though, Ryuga's screams grew louder and sharper as the numbers increased. With each passing second though, his vitals began to plunge but they never went flat lined._

 _Then it happened. With a flash of black lightning, Ryuga's body stopped shaking. The black veins on his arm, face and chest instantly retracted and apart from the steam that was radiating from his body, it was as though nothing had ever happened to the boy. The oversized blade was still clutched in Ryuga's hand, its black aura disappearing completely._

" _100%" the scientist breathed, unable to contain his excitement. "We did it; we've finally managed to create a vessel to house the powers of demons!"_

 _Beside Ryuga, the other two scientists shared his excitement, highfiving each other when they knew the experiment was a success._

 _But for Ryuga, he felt none of that._

 _He was not even sure how but he had managed to stay conscious throughout the whole process. The accommodation was a success and he was alive atop of that. Yet he did not feel any happiness. Just unbridled rage._

" _WHY!" he thought angrily to himself as clearly as he could. It had to be God's habitual prank on him. He craved for the sweet embrace of death and yet God would have none of it, making him live another day. Even Death stayed far away from him, no matter how hard he threw himself at his doors._

 _He was sick of this. He just wanted it to all end, at least then he could be reunited with his family. They were in a better place than he was currently and he missed them so much. Unable to take his own life, Ryuga cursed his powerlessness, tears freely falling from his eyes. Gone was the mask of nonchalance, replaced with the naked image of a tired and broken kid._

" _Damn it," he uttered through soft sobs. Unknownst to him, Balrog glowed slightly._

" _Damn it," he repeated, this time slightly louder, causing the scientists to turn and face him. This time, they saw it. Balrog was glowing brighter._

" _What on Earthland?" whispered the scientist as he stared star struck at the claymore. It was as though the sword was responding to his feelings._

" _Shit!" cursed the scientist by the lacrima screen. "Get it out of his hands now!" he hollered, prompting the two to move onto Ryuga._

 _Though they were a step too late._

" _DAMN IT!" Ryuga shouted, his emotions now running free. Instinctively, Balrog flashed, emitting a dark wave from its blade. Unlike normal energy bursts, this one did not explode. Instead it tore through everything it touched, like a knife on warm butter. All three scientists were bisected along their torsos, barely having enough time to scream before they were silenced permanently. The equipment all around Ryuga shattered as well, releasing him from his restraints too. Ryuga fell weakly to his knees, using Balrog as a support to prevent himself from collapsing completely. He was panting heavily and despite the fierce attack he had just unleashed, his mind was in a blur. He had no idea what he just did; only knowing that he was free._

 _The containment chamber had shattered completely, the walls and those beyond that all neatly cleaved into half by that energy wave. Alarms blared as the explosions occurred simultaneously all around the facility. Guards rushed to put out the fires and control the explosions while the other prisoners all broke free of their cells, taking the opportunity to escape._

" _There he is!" a voice yelled, causing Ryuga to turn his head weakly in that direction. There stood a team of guards, all armed with magic staffs that hummed with power. The explosion in the room had drawn their attention here. They were all training their weapons on him, ready to fire at a moment's notice._

" _He's too dangerous, sir. He must be eliminated!" one of the guards cried out to which the captain agreed. Although it was a waste of a good specimen, they could not risk the destruction of the facility._

" _Ready! Aim!" the captain commanded, all members of the guards charging their magic at Ryuga._

" _Fire!" 10 blasts of various elements shot forward to Ryuga who just lay there completely still. His body was too weak to move, so he watched with glazed eyes as the balls of energy homed in on him._

 _Once again, Death refused to take him in. Balrog glowed once more, the skull on one end opening its mouth. As if on cue, all the energy blasts fired at Ryuga entered it, leaving no trace of their existence except for the wisps of smoke emitting from the skull's mouth._

" _What in blazes?" the captain breathed, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Not that it mattered any more as Balrog unleashed another wave of dark energy which slashed through the guards, killing them instantly._

 _As blood and flesh rained, Ryuga released his grip on Balrog and collapsed face first into the ground. As if by magic (no pun intended), Balrog disappeared, leaving Ryuga all alone in the room._

 _He was tired of the experiments._

 _He was tired of the nightmares that made him wake up every night covered in sweat._

 _He was tired of living._

 _And so, despite the explosions and rubble falling all around him, Ryuga felt himself to be at peace. At long last he could be reunited with his family, freed from this horrible world that he was born into._

 _With that, Ryuga closed his eyes and welcomed the darkness that beckoned him. Beneath him, the floor cracked open, no longer able to withstand the pressure of the room destruction. Ryuga's limp body fell through the gaping hole that was formed, sending him off on a long ride to death._

 _Only that someone would not let him._

" _BROTHER!" a voice called out, causing Ryuga to open his weary eyes once more. He felt something warm grab his hand, stopping him mid fall._

" _Let me go Neo," Ryuga uttered monotonously, calling the boy's name for the first time. He could not be bothered with why and how Neo managed to find him. He only knew that he was in between him and his final wish._

" _Never!" Neo cried back, his grip tightening on Ryuga. He had leapt into the crevice after Ryuga, holding onto him with all the strength he had left while at the same time, grabbing what was left of the floor. All around him, the place was gradually coming to bits and pieces, crashing down at full force. Yet time seemed to slow, just between the two of them, oblivious to what was going on in the surroundings._

 _Ryuga felt something warm drip onto his cheek, and then another drop, and then a miniature rain poured onto him. Blood was flowing out of various parts of Neo's body, it being unable to take the stress of holding the weight of two people._

" _Let me go," Ryuga repeated. "Or we are both going to die."_

" _I refuse." Neo repeated, his voice steeled with determination despite the excruciating pain that was visible from his eyes. "I am not letting you die."_

" _DON'T YOU GET IT!" Ryuga exploded at the younger boy. "I HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO LIVE FOR! EVERYTHING I KNOW OF IS DEAD! FRIENDS, FAMILY, EVERYTHING! SO WHY! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME DIE!"_

" _Because all I have left is you," whimpered Neo, tears falling freely from his eyes. That caused Ryuga's eyes to widen. What on earth is Neo saying?_

" _I lost my family and home too," Neo sniffed as he explained his story. "I was afraid. Afraid that I would die anytime soon. And then I saw you. You who was fearless before everything, even death. You gave me motivation, someone to look up to in a time of despair. I really wanted to be like you!"_

" _What?" came Ryuga's dumbfounded reply._

" _If you die, I will lose all my hopes and dream. I will lose the one thing that I held close to my heart. So please don't die. Please let me continue to remain as your brother!"_

 _The words struck a chord with Ryuga, causing him to remember what his mother had told him a long time ago. Something along the lines of life being precious because it is not just your own but something that you share with the people around you._

" _What a selfish fool I was." Ryuga muttered softly. All this while he had only been thinking of himself, neglecting the fact that his life was not just his own but something that tied to that of others. If he really did die here, he would never be able to pass on in peace._

 _He could feel Neo's hands slipping by the minute, no longer being able to withstand both their weights any further. Just as Ryuga tried to grab onto it, he watched as a part of the ceiling descended onto them, unable to do anything to stop it._

" _Shit!" he cursed, his vision going black as the slab of concrete hit him._

 _ **Unknown Time later**_

 _Ryuga's eyelids fluttered as he strained to open them. His body was aching all over, proof that he wasn't dreaming when the concrete slab hit him in the face. All around him, rubble was strewn. The facility was destroyed that was for sure._

" _Wait a moment, where's Neo?" Ryuga thought to himself worriedly. From as far as he could look, he did not see the boy anywhere. As he was about to get up and search, he felt a pair of hands push him back down. Down onto something soft._

" _Morning Brother!" an all too familiar voice chirped, causing Ryuga to gaze up. There was Neo, having red bloodshot eyes but a warm smile on his face. The tear streaks along his cheeks evident that he had been worried sick for Ryuga._

 _Despite being surrounded in rubble and his body in excruciating pain, Ryuga breathed a sigh of relief._

 _He was finally free._

 _And he was no longer alone._

" _Morning Neo," he replied the boy for the first time, a small smile on his face. That caused the younger boy's smile to grow even wider, tears of joy falling from his eyes._

 **Present Day**

Despite the tumbling of logs and the roar of the dust cloud, a deadly silence had descended between the two mages. It was just like back then, whereby time stood still for the both of them. While the atmosphere was the same as back then, the situation was completely different. Then, they were both prisoners, relating to each other. Now, they were of two different factions with two different moral codes.

One good and the other evil.

Ryuga silently took in the scene that was before him. His team was scatter like a pile of dead leaves, unconscious and possibly dead. Zephyr was badly burnt, his body almost unrecognizable. Vali was emitting steam, his body devoid of magic. Liliana was unconscious, encased in a pool of hardened magma with Vali's staff protruding out of her gut. Standing above them all, was someone he had previously held dear to his heart, currently caked in the blood of his team.

Under normal circumstances, Ryuga would have attacked him out of pure rage. But as things were currently, he was at a loss at what to do, slowly processing the scene before his eyes.

"Hello Brother," Neo greeted with a warm smile, though Ryuga refused to return it.

"You are no longer my Brother," Ryuga retorted with a scowl. After what had happened seven years ago, he no longer acknowledged the man before him as his kin.

"Oh come on. Why are you still so mad?" Neo pouted. "Is it because you failed to kill me back then?"

"That's just one of the reasons why." Ryuga narrowed his eyes, his muscles slightly tensing up at the memories of the incident seven years ago.

"Cheh, you are just sour after what I did, aren't you?" Neo closed his eyes and shrugged. "After all, your…"

Neo never got to finish his sentence. The moment he took to close his eyes, Ryuga had vanished, reappearing right in front of him and delivering a powerful axe kick to the side of his head. That sent Neo spiraling into the far end of the path, crashing into a large tree with a resounding boom.

Ryuga then proceeded to walk over to his team. With a heft, he removed the staff that was embedded into Liliana's gut, causing her to wince in pain. He watched as her eyes opened slightly, the desperate look in them for him to defeat Neo. Just as she was about to speak, Ryuga hushed her, holding her hand as he spoke.

"You guys did well," he said with a warm smile. "Now get some rest and leave the rest to me."

Liliana's eyes widened slightly in gratitude, a look of relief washing over her face as she closed her eyes and fell back unconscious. Ryuga then proceeded to remove a green orb from his pocket. It was gift that he had received from a client who had spoken proudly of its healing abilities. No was the time to use it.

Ryuga placed the orb in the centre of all three bodies, watching as he began to glow. A small dome then erected over the three mages, bathing them in a green light. While Ryuga was slightly uncomfortable under it, he could tell that it was working. A quick glance at their wounds was proof of that. Liliana's bleeding was already stopping and Zephyr's burns gradually receded.

With that he turned his attention back to Neo who had already gotten out of the trunk that he was kicked into, cracking his neck and shaking the dust of his coat.

"Well I guess I should keep my guard up now." He chuckled. "Especially since I'm up against you now." With that, he allowed his body to tense up and his eyes to narrow, though the sickening smirk never left his face.

Similarly, Ryuga prepared himself as well. This was a dance that he had danced too for way too long.

Both mages stared into each other's eyes for a moment.

Then they moved.

Faster than anyone could follow, both mages had vanished and suddenly found themselves midair in the centre of the path: Neo with a fist extended for a punch while Ryuga's own fist countering it, causing a steam of wind to burst free when the blows impacted. Pulling back, Ryuga launched a drop kick, only for Neo to counter it with a straight one, forcing some more distance between them. As both mages reached the ground, Neo reengaged like a berserker and Ryuga met his charge.

As Neo brought his fist down, Ryuga met it by countering with another axe kick. As testament to his strength, Ryuga not only blocked the strike but forced Neo off, forming a deep crater at his feet. He was on Neo like white on rice, scoring a hit on Neo's chest and sending him near the canopy of the trees, only for Neo to ecover and block his next swing as he came a second time.

The air between them was filled with the sound of blows and kicks resonating, being either blocked or parried. There was the occasional shattering of a trunk or branch, proof of a missed attack or direct blow. It was like two boxers battering away at each other in a death match, though such a thing had nothing on this. Each blow was powerful enough to shatter bone but yet both mages shrugged it off like it was nothing more than an itch to them. Having been used to the force behind each others' attacks, they were nothing more than mere annoyances to either party.

For at a minute or two they fought like this before disengaging to create a space of ten feet in between them. Despite the fierce exchange that had just occurred between them, neither mage seemed exhausted.

"After all these years, you still move well. I have to say, I'm impressed." Neo complimented, the grin on his face still there.

"Well don't be. I was the one that taught you how to fight initially." Ryuga retorted, a scowl forming over his face. Although they seemed to be evenly matched, Ryuga could tell that they weren't. Neo was slightly faster than him, showing that he had been training since their last exchange.

"Well then, let's kick this up a notch shall we Brother?" Neo sniggered as he clenched his fists tightly. As he did so, the blood vessels along his arms began to swell, eventually bursting and allowing the blood to flow freely down his arms.

"Blood Make: Feral" Neo commanded as the blood eventually congregated as his wrists, forming a long curved blade at the end of each. As if to test their sharpness, Neo casually flicked his wrist at a nearby tree, watching in satisfaction as it was sliced cleanly in half.

Wordlessly, a black magic circle appeared at the end of Ryuga's palm. A silver guard then proceeded to pass through it, decorated with runes that were currently grey. The instant Ryuga grabbed it, the runes lit up with an aquamarine blue and a blade of the same color sprouted from the empty handle. Chains of the same color then proceeded to coil around Ryuga's arm having extended from the bottom of the hilt. Like Neo, Ryuga too gave his arm a few swings, feeling the recoil and power humming through his weapon.

"The Blade of Baal eh?" Neo remarked with a sigh as he recognized the weapon. "I was hoping for something flashier but I guess I'll have to make to for now."

"Don't worry about it. It's gonna get flashy very soon." Ryuga replied. He then vanished again, reappearing before Neo and swinging the blade down. Neo dodged to the side, just as a bolt of blue lightning scorched the earth where he once stood. He proceeded to raise both his arms, bringing both blood blades down in Ryuga's direction. With almost super human reaction, Ryuga instantly turned and parried Neo's blow, lightning coursing through his blade. Despite the high voltage, Neo's blades did not dissipate or disintegrate. Instead they seemed to glow and were increasing in size.

"Tch!" Ryuga grunted as he repelled Neo's strike and leapt back. He then trusted his blade forward, firing off a large stream of lightning towards Neo. Instead of dodging, Neo flexed the muscles on his abdomen, causing copious amounts of blood to flow out once more. However this blood instantly dissipated into gas, congregating in front of Neo like a wall.

"Blood Make: Mist" Neo grinned as the blood instantly solidified, forming a large irregular shield before him. Ryuga's lightning blast impacted the shield directly, releasing stray streaks of bolts that flashed in every direction before exploding. When the smoke cleared, Neo's shield still remained intact though it was fragmenting at the sides.

"The Blade of Baal," Neo said as he walked out from behind the shield with a finger to his temple, as though he was deep in thought. "It allows it user to control lightning and possess high reaction speeds. For a lesser demon's weapon, it is rather powerful. Though not enough to beat me."

"You talk too much," Ryuga replied with a scowl as he banished the blade. Another magic circle appeared this time beneath Ryuga. When it vanished, Ryuga was wearing a pair of black boots that were covered in silver spikes.

"Obelisk's Torment" Ryuga commanded as a black aura began emitting from the boots. It slowly ascended and grew in size, completely engulfing Ryuga. It then began to mould in shape, eventually towering over Ryuga in the form of a translucent skeleton with four arms, two of which held ethereal swords whose blades resembled burning flames.

Without warning, Ryuga slashed his arm downwards and the giant skeleton copied his movements, bringing down one of his sword arms onto Neo. Neo instantly ducked out of the way, landing on a tree branch as he watched the sword cut through his shield. He barely had enough time to think as another sword arm slashed horizontally across his position, causing him to run parallel across the trees to evade it.

"The Boots of Alloces." Neo called out as he dodged an enormous punch thrown by the skeleton. "Its user is able to summon a giant skeleton that copies its movements, amplifying the strength behind his attacks."

"Keep talking and you'll bite your tongue off." Ryuga snarled as he hurled another punch at Neo. The Blood mage simply jumped to evade it, landing on top of the skeleton's fist much to Ryuga's annoyance. Standing there he shook his head, sighing as he did so.

"It's powerful alright." Neo started as he gazed down at Ryuga. "But it has one major flaw." Ryuga just grunted in response as he shook Neo off, sending him flying into the air. That was a bad mistake.

"Blood Make: Wings" Neo commanded as blood seeped out from his back, tearing through his coat to take the form of two crimson draconian wings. He then stood there suspended in midair, completely out of reach from Ryuga. With a smirk, he proceeded to finish his sentence.

"Its user takes the same damage the skeleton does." The blood wings instantly crystallized, now resembling two crystal appendages. With a shrug of his shoulders, the crystals fired off simultaneously, unleashing storm of diamond hard projectiles against Ryuga. The projectiles impacted the skeleton, each one resounding with a small explosion. Ryuga grimaced slightly as he felt the wounds forming on his body. While individually the crystals were of little harm, an unending storm of them was bad news.

As if that was not enough, Neo descended as well. The blood from one wing had completely vanished, having been transferred to the other to take the form of a large blade like appendage.

"Damn it!" Ryuga cursed as he watched Neo's new weapon take shape. He instinctively raised his arms and held them in a cross formation before his chest. The skeleton followed suit, raising all four limbs in an attempt to meet Neo's strike.

Neo cackled as he thrust the blade like appendage forward, using his momentum to rocket towards his opponent.

"Bloody Edge!"

Despite Ryuga's strength and dexterity amplified by the skeleton, it was nothing before Neo's attack, having torn through all four of the skeleton's arms and smashing it completely. Ryuga stifled back a scream as the slash wound reappeared on his arms and chest, causing blood to pour out of the open wound. Refusing to give in, Ryuga swung a round house punch at Neo as he landed, catching the mage off guard and socking him in the face. Neo tumbled a few steps back, the blood blade wing on his back dissipating away. Similarly, Ryuga's skeleton faded away as well, leaving the both of them alone once more.

"It's a shame Brother. Your skills seem to have faded over the years. Have you gone soft?" Neo teased.

"Shut the hell up!" Ryuga snarled as he wiped the trickle of blood that was flowing down his mouth. Neo just shrugged his shoulders, not really caring.

"So tell me Neo? Why did you join Black Citadel?" Ryuga asked in a serious tone as he got back on his feet.

"Various reasons," Neo shrugged as he extended his fingers, counting them as he named them off. "Well the first being that I could get to slaughter as many people as I liked. I honestly can't give a rat's ass about what they're doing. As long as I get to kill, it does not really matter."

"You're twisted," Ryuga spat in disgust.

"And there's the second reason of course." Neo continued, ignoring Ryuga's reply. This time however, his grin had vanished and his expression grew dark. "And that's to kill you."

"Glad we're on the same page." Ryuga glared at Neo, the anger on his face visible. "I can't believe that you're the same kid as that time 20 years ago."

"Don't fuck with me!" Neo roared as he swept his hand dismissively. "Whatever happened till now is your entire fault! You know it deep down too! If only you have not betrayed us that day, none of this would have happened!"

That left Ryuga speechless, the expression on his face softening slightly. As much as he refused to believe or admit it, Neo was right. He was completely responsible for what he had become today.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Neo hissed, venom practically oozing from his voice. "Your silence just goes to show that I was right. That and the way you have been going easy on me this entire fight and the one seven years ago. You don't have it in you to kill me, do you? Because you're fucking guilty!"

Another second of silence passed as Ryuga acknowledged the truth behind Neo's words. He felt that he owed the mage everything. Deep down, he wanted to believe that Neo was still the same boy that he used to smile and laugh with, not the psychopathic killer that was before him today. Despite all his crimes and actions, Ryuga still treated him as a brother.

The only kin he had left in this world.

"Bring it out." Neo demanded, his voice devoid of emotion as it snapped Ryuga out of his thoughts. "The armor belonging to the Seven Sins."

"No," Ryuga replied, his voice and expression hardening at the mention of it. "I made a promise that I will never use it again."

"Don't give me that crap. You already broke the one between us, there's no harm in breaking in another." Neo taunted. "Use it."

"I said no." Ryuga scowled. If he were to use it here, he would go against everything that he had stood for the past 10 years. That and he would probably kill every living thing that resided in the forest, his team included.

Neo sighed as he heard Ryuga's second response, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Stubborn as always aren't you." Neo replied, his eyes narrowing. "Looks like I'll have to force you to use it then." A black magic circle proceeded to form under his palm, a contrast to the red ones that he had been using until now. Ryuga's eyes widened as he recognized the magic circle to be the same one that he used but what really caused the shock was the weapon that Neo pulled out from it.

"Balrog," Ryuga breathed silently as he recognized the double edge claymore that once belonged to him. Neo spun the demonic blade effortlessly around his fingers, only pausing to admire it.

"This was the sword that started everything between us," Neo muttered as he ran his hand along the blade. "And now, it shall be the one to end it all."

With that Neo held Balrog in a reverse grip, stabbing the blade into the earth. Below him, red veins began to spread like a plague from where Balrog struck. The earth was also gradually turning black, the skies darkening as though knowing what was about to happen. Without a moment to waste, Neo began the incantation.

"Souls of the damned, heed my cry! Descend from the gates of Hell and win this fight! Plague the enemy that stands before thee! And consume his mind, body and soul for me!"

A thunderous roar could be heard from beneath Balrog as a black line shone through the veins covering the earth. It was as though the gates of hell were opening, black miasma seeping through and polluting the air. Despite the darkened atmosphere, Ryuga could make out five distinct black orbs, four of which were larger than the last. Like an egg, they began to crack and hatch, revealing the beings that were hidden within them.

The first was black and white Vulcan that sported four arms and two tails, the muscles on its body evidently bulging. The second was a towering brown golem with a single eye that had sand swirling all around it. The third and fourth were a pair of wyverns that took to the skies, lightning and fire spouting slightly from their mouths as they growled at Ryuga. While they were all fearsome beasts that Ryuga had faced before, he paid no attention. Instead his gazed was held at the last soul, unable to comprehend the figure that appeared from it.

"No. Why? Why is she there?"

The last one was a female mage. She had chestnut brown long hair tied up in a ponytail that reached her hips and a very attractive body along with large breasts. She had a slim angular face and tanned skin. For clothing, a white scarf was wrapped around her neck and she wears a short blue t-shirt tied into a knot at the bottom, revealing her navel and a pair of mini shorts. By her side was a meter-half long katana that has six holes within the blade. The most prominent thing about her though was not her figure but the sickly scar that stretched from her neck to her navel. When she opened her eyes, they were devoid of life, having red pupils surrounded by black sclera. This aspect was shared by the four beasts as well, each possessing an empty look of rage.

"Yura…" Ryuga uttered softly as he gazed upon the mage Neo had just summoned forth, the tears flowing freely from the corners of his eyes. Throughout his life, Ryuga had met many people, most of them he had long forgotten. But if there was one face he could not forget, it was hers.

She was the one who first befriended him in Phantom.

She was the one who taught him how to control his magic.

She was the one who taught him to be kind and compassionate.

Most importantly, she was his first love.

"Don't you dare speak her name." Neo scowled as he removed Balrog, taking his place beside her. "I wonder why she is here," he said in a sing-song fashion, staring down Ryuga with hate filled eyes.

"That's right," he answered his own question as his expression darkened once more. "It was you." The words that followed suit sapped Ryuga's will to fight any further, knowing that they were the truth and there was no denying that.

"You killed her."


	11. Awakening Of Sparda

**A/N:** _Sorry for the late update people. This chapter was supposed to be out last week but I somehow managed to procrastinate until now. So thousand apologies for that._

 _And now, more bad news_ _. This story will only be continuing late December/early January because some author is going back home to see his family. So this will be the last chapter for this year unless I can find time to do another one or two back home (I finished this one at the airport an hour before my flight hahahahaha. Am I amazing or just crazy XD)_

 _Many thanks to my dearest reviewers but due to my time constraints I didn't have time to put down my thoughts so I'll do so the next chapter_

 _Without further ado, on with the story._

 _Please refer to Chapter 1 for disclaimers._

 _Enjoy!_

 **Scarlet Nova Guild Hall**

"Alright!" Aiden declared, a grin on his face as he fist punched the air. His map piece had just started to glow, golden lines streaking across it as it started to identify the location of the next artifact. It had been a full day since Ryuga's team left the guild hall on their mission and Aiden was starting to get a bit restless. Although he knew the importance of the mission, he still couldn't help but feel excited about it. He was going to be up against some of the most powerful dark mages the guild has ever known and he wanted to put his strength to the test against them. Then there was the issue about Ryuga's team as well. Amongst all the teams, they had the least members. While Aiden was confident in the group's abilities, he was still a bit worried for them. If not for his own mission at hand, he would have gone after Ryuga's group.

"Ready you lot?" Aiden asked as he turned to address the 5 mages seated behind him. Around him, his team had determined looks on their faces although some of them had a tinge of excitement present on them. This was particularly for the newer members who were excited on getting started on their first mission.

Gemma had a smirk on her face as she fist bumped Judar who was seated next to her and wearing the same excitement on his face as her. This was going to be their mission as Novas and what better ways to kick start their career as official mages then to kick some Dark Guild butt. Their battle craving nature had made it easy to decide who would be their teacher, finding their way into Aiden's team with relative ease.

Asuna had a grim look on her face as she whispered a little prayer for her team, hoping that they would all remain safe during this mission. Beside her sat Hanaku who was still swathed in bandages, particularly around her gut and left arm. Her face occasionally grimaced in pain, a reminder to the rest of her team that she was not fully recovered yet. Despite Master Glaive's insistence that she rested, she wanted to tag along. She was part of Aiden's team and was a member of Scarlet Nova. The guild's problems were her problems and she wanted payback for what they did at Sand Dune City. When Hanaku came back badly wounded that day, Asuna felt her stomach sink. Hanaku was considered one of the better fighters of the team considering her versatility in close ranged combat. Both she and Blitz specialized in long range and if a close range fighter could be wounded so badly, she was not keeping her hopes very high about coming out of this unscathed. Hopefully the two new recruits would provide a boost to their fighting strength.

Blitz was lost in his own world, busy packing various devices and lacrima into a knapsack. He acknowledged Aiden's words but was a bit worried behind the tone he was expressing. Having seen the might behind the enemies they would be facing, being worried and afraid was a given but Aiden was showing none of that, glowing with confidence and excitement. It really scared Blitz deep down, how Aiden was literally fearless. Maybe that was why Master Glaive placed Aiden as his teacher. Or maybe that was why he chose to follow the Brawler mage after that. Whatever the reason was, Blitz still found it glad to be on the same side as him.

"Off we go Master!" Aiden called out to Glaive as he got off his seat, leading his team through the front doors of the guild.

"Hold up," called Glaive as he stopped the group in their tracks. He then fished out a small golden medallion from his pocket and hurled it to Aiden who caught it with an open palm.

"What's this for?" Blitz asked as he gazed at the medallion in Aiden's palm.

"You'll need it where you're going." Glaive explained, "Show this to the gate keeper. He'll let you in after that."

"So where exactly is the place?" Gemma asked, curious about their destination. Beside her Judar nodded his head eagerly, wanting to find out as well.

Glaive let out a small sigh as he thought of the place they were headed. While it was once a place of knowledge and refuge, it was currently a wasteland, having lost all its former glory.

"Morgoth, the city of the forgotten." He finally answered, his tone turning slightly ominous. "A word of advice as well. Do not trust anyone and anything."

 _ **Flashback (9 years prior to Fic), Phantom Lord Headquarters**_

 _A younger Ryuga huffed as he ran up the stairs leading to the main office of Phantom Lord's Guild Hall. His body was currently covered in bruises and a dried trickle of blood hung from the corner of his mouth. He was in the middle of fighting a bunch of Fairies when the Master's order came in, requesting to see him immediately. That short transmission cause him to pause momentarily mid fight, just as he was about to finish off Take Over user who insisted on ascending the stairs to the main guild hall. Said user was capable of a full body takeover, something that was quite astonishing to Ryuga considering the user being about the same age as him. However their difference in strength came to light when Ryuga easily beat him despite the Full Takeover being used, a clear indication of a lack of experience._

 _Despite the easy victory, Ryuga still suffered some damage. Not by the takeover user of course, but by a third party who attacked him as he was receiving Master Jose's transmission._

 _The one named Salamander who socked him right under the jaw and sent him flying through half a dozen walls._

 _Under normal circumstances, Ryuga would have charged and engaged but his Master had demanded that this matter took priority, forcing Ryuga to turn tail and leave the battlefield._

 _With a final huff, Ryuga finally reached the top floor of Phantom's headquarters, pushing in the wooden door that led him into Master Jose's office._

" _What's the matter Master," Ryuga asked in between breaths, his hands on his knees."Is there something wrong?"_

" _Why of course Ryuga," Jose replied in a surprisingly calm voice. "There is a certain matter that I would like you to tend to."_

" _What is…" Ryuga's voice trailed off as he finally got up and looked at his surroundings. Everything in the room looked normal at the very least, until Ryuga noticed a body lying on the ground_

" _Yura!" Ryuga called out in shock and surprise as he recognized the tanned mage. She was covered in bruises and slash wounds, barely holding onto her consciousness as she writhed in pain on the ground._

" _Hey, Ryuga," Yura started as she forced out a weak smile when she recognized the mage. "I didn't think I would see you again."_

" _Master, what is the meaning of this?!" Ryuga demanded in confusion._

" _She's a spy my boy," Jose replied, a sinister grin on his face as he turned to face Ryuga. "She's with Fairy Tail."_

" _I don't understand," Ryuga uttered softly as he stared shell-shocked at his Master._

" _This whole battle. The main reason we are losing is all because of her." Jose elaborated as he took a step closer towards Ryuga. "She was the one who leaked the information to Makarov about how to stop the Abyss Break. That the only way to cancel it was to defeat the Elemental Four."_

" _Master please," Ryuga pleaded, unable to take in the fact that the closest person to him in the guild was a spy. "There must be a mistake somewhere. Yura has been with us for so long. There's no way she is a spy."_

" _Don't bother trying to explain for her Ryuga!" Jose hollered, effectively causing Ryuga to shut up, his eyes wide with fear. "The fact that she just tried to escape proves it!"_

" _In fact, I have reason to believe that you and your brother are in cahoots with her. Considering the time you three having been spending together." Jose smirked as he pressed further, noting the fear in Ryuga's expression._

" _Leave them out of this Jose!" Yura growled with whatever strength she had left. "They have nothing do with this!"_

" _Silence you wretch!" Jose snarled as he kicked Yura in the gut, causing her to cry out in pain. Every fiber in Ryuga's body was yelling at him to help her, to get her out of there immediately. And yet his body wouldn't do what he wanted it to do, immobilized by his fear of Master Jose._

" _So the reason I have called you here now," Jose continued after composing himself, "is to prove your loyalty to Phantom."_

" _Are you willing to do what it takes?"_

 _Ryuga could barely register what was going on around him but he could feel the fear practically oozing out from his body. He was fixated like a statue and yet for some unknown reason, he still found the strength to nod his head slightly._

" _Good Boy," Master Jose praised, a warm smile on his face which completely dispelled the ominous atmosphere in the room. For a moment, Ryuga felt his body relax, his guard completely down when he saw Master Jose's expression. As such, his blood ran ice cold when he heard the words that followed._

" _Now kill her."_

 _With that he hurled a sword at Ryuga's feet, beckoning for Ryuga to pick it up._

" _What?" came Ryuga's unintelligent reply as he refused to accept the order._

" _You heard me the first time," Master Jose said, his expression rapidly darkening. "Pick up the sword and kill her!"_

 _As though like a toy robot, Ryuga reached for the handle of the sword with trembling hands, lifting it up slowly. Tears were already welling up at the corners of his eyes, the horror on his face recognizable. He glanced at Yura pleadingly; the look in his eyes a desperate one. What was he supposed to do? How could he strike down the person he loved?_

 _Yura was always there for him, more so than anyone including Neo. She always advised him what to do, be it the little things like what clothes to wear on a date or the major decisions like what missions should he take. Without her he wouldn't be where he was today but if he didn't kill her, all he had done thus far would be for naught. He felt his heart being torn into two deep inside, forced to choose between his love and his loyalty. He was at a total lost at what to do. He heart screamed at him to take Yura and run but his head yelled back for him to strike her down now. He just could not choose either option._

" _Hey Ryuga," Yura's warm voice called out to him, breaking him free from his thoughts. With pain in his eyes, he looked down at her, hoping for her to advise him on what to do in this situation._

" _I just want you to know," Yura started as she cupped a hand against Ryuga's cheek, a weak smile still etched on her face. "Although I am from Fairy Tail, my feelings for you were true. The time spent with you and Neo was the best I've ever had in my life. I truly am sorry, for deceiving you all this while."_

" _What are you saying Yura?" Ryuga stuttered, "Why does it sound like…"_

" _Just listen to me ok," Yura cut him off mid speech, her voice more of a pained whisper now. "Don't let anyone control your life. Not me, not Jose, not anyone else. You are a free man now, so don't let anything stand in your way. Lead your life the way you want, not under the fear or control of others."_

 _At this point, Yura had crawled back to her feet, standing painfully as she tried not to collapse once more. "I am sorry for putting you through this all over again. The mistake is mine and mine alone. No one else should bear the pain of what I have done." Her hand had slowly travelled from Ryuga's cheek to his hands, stabilizing them and the weapon that was currently held against her chest._

" _You don't have to make the choice Ryuga," she gave a sad smile, the tears now flowing freely from her eyes as she steeled herself for what she was about to do._

" _Because I will."_

 _There was the distinct sound of something being cut and something warm splashed onto Ryuga's face. He stood there stunned, unable to comprehend what happen for an instant before everything hit him all at once. By then Yura's hand had left his, her body slumped over his shoulder as the life began to drain from it._

" _I really am sorry Ryuga." Yura wheezed, her breathing become more ragged with each passing second. Ryuga was still shell-shocked at what had just happened, his body completely reacting on instinct as he caught Yura._

" _Yura?" he called out, though it was more of a pained question that needed an answer desperately. He could feel the warmth leaving her body but he refused to acknowledge it. He could see the blood flowing from the wound onto the floor but he refused to believe it. He knew she was going to die._

" _Goodbye, Ryuga." Yura whispered into his ear, the last words that she would ever say as she closed her eyes forever._

" _I love you."_

 _Ryuga felt her breathing stop and her body go limp. His brain and heart yelled out that she was gone but he refused to believe it, calling out nonetheless._

" _Yura?"_

 _No response._

" _Yura?" he pleaded, the tears now flowing freely as he turned to look at her. Despite the wounds on her, Yura's face was one of tranquility. Her eyes were closed and she still wore the same warm smile that she always gave him._

 _But Ryuga knew all too well that it was the last time he would ever see it._

 _When silence descended once more, he finally let loose the emotions within him, bawling and crying his heart out. His arms wrapped tightly around her cold body as he pleaded for her not to leave but his cries were met with nothing but dead silence._

 _Yura was gone._

 _And he was the one who caused her death._

 **Present Day (With Ryuga and Neo)**

"Well am I wrong?" Neo snarled as he bared his teeth at Ryuga. The latter stood there frozen still, guilt washing over him wave after wave as the memory looped in his head. Ryuga remembered it just like it was yesterday, the warmth of her blood on his face and the coldness of her corpse leaning against him. No matter how much time had passed, no matter how many times Master Glaive and Seras told him it wasn't his fault, the reality of it still haunted him like a specter.

Yura did die by his own hands.

Neo snorted as he stared at Ryuga's guilt stricken face, disgust written all over his own. His brother would pay dearly for his betrayal and what better way to do so with the crime he had committed.

"Corpse Carnival," Neo commanded as he held Balrog in a reverse grip. The skull on the side of the blade opened its mouth, a black magic circle appearing in front of it. At the same time, all five corpses before Neo had their eyes flash red, the effects of the spell kicking in. Within the next second, all of them moved.

Their target: Ryuga.

By the time Ryuga noticed that the corpses were no longer beside Neo, it was way too late. He barely detected the movement to the right of him before the Vulcan plowed its fist into the side of his head. Ryuga grunted in pain as he soared through the air, the Vulcan hot on his heels as it ran after his flying body. Ryuga re-summoned the Blade of Baal, using it to rake across the ground to stop his momentum. The instant he grinded to a halt, the Vulcan was on him, arms raised and ready to plummet Ryuga.

Luckily for himself, Ryuga's reaction speed was faster, summoning forth a blue and gold curved dagger into his free hand. With inhumane accuracy, he hurled it straight through both of the Vulcan's wrists, effectively causing them to be stuck together. When the Vulcan tried to bring its arms down, it couldn't and stood there stupidly with both arms raised. No matter how hard the Vulcan tugged, the dagger held steadfast and refused to come loose

Ryuga immediately aimed for a decapitating strike at the Vulcan but too bad the other corpses had other plans. Before his blade could get in close, a blast of sand shot forward, blinding Ryuga momentarily and slamming him into a nearby tree. Ryuga grunted in pain as he felt the wind leave his lungs, squinting as he tried to get a better look at the attacker. He could barely make out the silhouette of the Golem in the corner, its arm raised as it charged another blast of sand. Instinctively, Ryuga allowed the lightning within the blade course through his body, heightening his bodily reflexes. When the attack launched, Ryuga was ready, dodging to the side to avoid the second column of sand. Using that as a cover, he immediately ran down the side of it, deciding to take the Golem head on.

That being said, Ryuga found out firsthand how dead wrong he was to do so when the Golem coiled up into a giant ball and started to roll towards him. What's worse was that the Golem was gathering the sand around it as it rolled, gradually increasing in size and mass.

"Oh snap!" Ryuga thought to himself as he watched the giant wrecking ball thunder towards him. He was like an ant that was about to get squashed and that idea did not sit well with him. Stopping in his tracks, Ryuga fired off a concentrated blast of lighting from his blade once more, attempting to destroy the Golem before it could reach him.

Unfortunately for him, one of the Wyverns foiled his plans, dive-bombing straight in between the lightning blast and the Golem. Ryuga watched in shock as the Wyvern took the lightning blast head on, its whole body shuddering from the impact and current flow. That was enough lightning to destroy a small town and yet the wyvern just shook it off, its body glowing slightly before subsiding.

"Damn it," Ryuga cursed out loud when he remembered one of the Wyvern being able to breathe lightning. Who was to say that it was not resistant to lightning as well? But still, taking on the attack of a lightning demon was no easy feat, even for a corpse.

A thunderous rumble instantly brought Ryuga's attention back to the Golem, just that now it was mere inches away from him. Ryuga tried to duck to a side, but the time window was way too small, even with his reflexes enhanced by the demonic weapon. As a result, his left arm was unable to avoid the attack, completely steamrolled by the Golem.

This time, Ryuga screamed out loud in pain as he felt the various bones in his arm snap. It was like getting mangled by an alligator and having it spins a few round trying to tear his arm off. The limb now hung loosely by Ryuga's side, no doubt him being unable to use it for the rest of the fight. Ryuga was still in the midst of writhing in pain when he saw a shadow cast over him. His eyes turned slightly, barely meeting Yura's gaze before she brought her sword down.

The result was a fiery explosion that consumed Ryuga and caused the earth around him to be scorched. Ryuga coughed in pain as he rolled out from the blast radius, his body covered in burns and his coat was completely burnt off.

"Curses," Ryuga hissed under his breath. No matter how many times he got hit by it, it still stung like a bitch.

He had almost forgotten. Yura used Explosion Magic, being able to cause mighty energy bursts with just a simple flick of her body or sword. While being consumed in an explosion was bad enough, her real skill lay in the timing and size of the explosions. If she really wished for it, she could easily blow this place sky high with a bomb the size of a coin.

Then again, Yura wasn't there anymore. Her soul was gone and all that was left was just her corpse.

"Come on, focus" Ryuga told himself as he got back on his feet, just as Yura charged through the smoke, her blade poised to strike once more. This time, Ryuga met her strike, both of them pushing at each other to gain the edge they needed. While Ryuga had the advantage in strength, Yura had the speed to match it. Each parry lasted no more than a few seconds, ending with Yura breaking off and coming in from an unpredictable angle again. Each of her swings was propelled by miniature explosions at the back of her blade, boosting their speed even more. While Ryuga was used to the force and speed that they came at, he still found it hard to guard against her for two reasons.

One, he had never ever beat her at a swordfight.

Two, she was his ex-lover. Even in death, he still found it hard to muster the resolve to strike back.

"Damn that Neo," Ryuga growled, his eyes trailing off for a second as he spotted the Blood Mage. Said figure was seated on the other Wyvern, spinning Balrog with a sick grin on his face as he observed the battle. That sick bastard was using his emotions against him and it was a deliberate attempt as well.

In the time Ryuga's attention got distracted, Yura broke off again and vanished behind Ryuga, her sword thrusting towards Ryuga's neck.

"Shit!" Ryuga cursed out loud when he felt the blade's edge barely nipping his skin. He instantly moved his sword in for a parry, cringing as he felt the screeching of metal past his neck. He was so fixated on the blow that he failed to see Yura place a hand on his chest. Within seconds, the hand glowed a bright gold and Ryuga's eyes widened in recognition of what was about to happen.

As expected, another fiery explosion consumed Ryuga, kicking up another cloud of smoke and dust. This time however when it cleared, Ryuga was nowhere to be seen. The hardened look on Yura's face softened just slightly as she glanced around to search for her opponent. In the meantime, Ryuga reappeared behind her, his blade raise and aimed at her neck.

"Its over!" Ryuga cried out as he brought the blade down. If he managed to severe the head, the corpses would stop functioning altogether.

However at that instant, Yura turned to face him, her softened expression visible to Ryuga.

"Hello Ryuga," an image of her greeting him popped up in his mind just as his blade neared her neck. Ryuga's eyes widened in horror at the mental imagery, the nightmare replaying all over again in his head.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Ryuga roared in anger and frustration as he changed the path of his blade at the last minute, slashing her back instead. Tears of desperation were already teeming at his eyes, his will to fight slowly being sapped. He just did not have it in him to kill her again.

Unfortunately for him, Yura had no such problem. She spun her blade in a reverse grip and in a swift motion, pierced Ryuga through the chest.

Ryuga coughed out copious amounts of blood as he felt an organ rupture within him, his face writhing in agony. Yura did not give him any respite, instead letting her blade glow golden as she charged up another explosion. This one, due to the blade still being embedded in Ryuga's body, instantly caused Ryuga's chest cavity to implode, spraying a fountain of blood into the sky.

"Is this the end?" Ryuga thought to himself as he felt his consciousness slipping from the blood lost. That last attack had shattered his ribcage and one of his lungs. Even if he wanted to scream, there was nothing left for him to do so. His body was starting to go cold and numb as well, a clear signal that he was knocking on death's door already.

"So this is what death feels like,"

He wondered if Yura felt like this in her final moments. Cold and alone with no one to keep you company on the path down under. He guessed it was karma then. His sins had finally caught up to him at long last and surprisingly, Ryuga felt at ease. He was finally paying for his actions 9 years ago.

Up in the air, Neo watched with great disinterest. Even in his last moments, Ryuga still refused to use his ultimate magic. Perhaps that it was fate that Ryuga was meant to die here today.

"Do it," Neo commanded with a wave of his hand.

The Golem fired off two blasts of sand that rapidly consumed Ryuga in the form an orb, completely obscuring him from view. Yura and the other Wyvern then proceeded to pour lightning and explosions into the sand dome, heating it to extreme temperatures. When the act was done, Ryuga was now enclosed in a glass orb. A glass coffin whereby he would spend his last moments.

"It's too bad things had to end this way, Brother" Neo smirked as he gazed at Ryuga's lifeless form within the glass sphere.

"Goodbye and good riddance."

On the other hand, Ryuga watched with blurry eyes as Neo said something. Not that it mattered as his hearing was almost gone as well.

"Sorry guys. I'll be taking my leave first." Ryuga gave a small weak smile as he felt the darkness beckon him. As the images of his team and guild flashed before his eyes, Ryuga gradually closed them, awaiting death to claim him.

 **Location Unknown**

"Wake up sleepy head," a soft voice beckoned Ryuga. Ryuga's eyelids fluttered slightly, opening at recognition of the owner of that voice. His eyes began to focus and as he gazed at his surroundings, he realized he was no longer in Ion. For one, the place was way too bright and he had no wounds. The other was that he was lying on a lap pillow.

"Yura?" he asked, uncertainty present in his voice even though he recognized the face of the female mage.

"Of course it's me dummy." Yura smiled as she helped Ryuga up. "Who else would it be?"

"Then that means that I…" Ryuga started but Yura shook her head.

"You aren't dead yet but you have to return soon." Yura replied, a warm smile etched on her face as she caressed Ryuga's cheek. "You can't stay for long."

"Yura, I have so many things to tell you. I don't know where to start," Ryuga stammered, the anxiousness apparent in his voice. He was about to continue when Yura placed a finger on his lips, signaling for him to stop.

"I understand Ryuga." She hushed him as she wrapped her arms around him in a loving embrace. "My death was never your fault. It was mine and my choice alone."

She parted for a moment, placing her against Ryuga's before she continued. "You have to live on Ryuga. Not just for me but for your friends as well. I am a person of your past and you must learn how to let go of me or else you will never move forward. You have a new family now. Just like how we used to live, you must too learn to do so for them as well. They need you Ryuga, so protect them with all your strength. Do not let me be a burden to you any longer."

"Yura, I…" Ryuga started when he noticed that his body was gradually dissolving into particles of white light. His time was running out so he decided to ask the one burning question that desperately wanted answers for.

"Will I see you again?"

"Maybe," Yura chirped as she moved in to hug Ryuga once more. "Until then, always remember what I said. No matter what happens, I will always love you."

"Same here, Yura." Ryuga replied, a warm smile etched on his own face as well. "Until we meet again, wait for me will you?"

Yura said nothing, simply nodding her head as she waved goodbye to Ryuga. With that Ryuga's body completely disappeared, the light particles returning to the heavens and beyond.

 **With Neo**

After he said his goodbyes to Ryuga, Neo proceeded to turn his attention back to the task at hand. Not too far from him lay the unconscious bodies of the other members of Ryuga's team, surrounded by a dome of green light. Judging from experience, Neo recognized it as some sort of healing magic. It was healing the wounds Rin and him had delivered to the mages but not fast enough.

At least till the point whereby no one would be conscious to fight back when he went over to kill them.

Neo sighed slightly at that thought. He really did not like attacking a fallen foe. Fights were meant to be fun and thrilling and there was none of that in attacking a wounded enemy. But then again it was his Master's orders. Athena was supposed to handle the recovery of the artifact by destroying the barrier around it while his job was to handle any intruders and dispose of them. Despite it going against his personal codes of honor, an order was an order nonetheless.

"Well it's not like Ryuga will come and save them or anything," Neo remarked with a smirk as he spun Balrog around his free hand, preparing to go in for the kill. If there was one thing he found consolation in, it was that he didn't need to fight his brother any further.

Or so he thought.

"I won't be so sure of that," a low ominous voice echoed out into the clearing, loud enough for Neo to hear and send chills down his spine.

"Impossible!" he snarled as he turned around, his army of corpses all rallying around him. The wounds he received were way more fatal than the other three mages. He should be dead already by now so there was no way in hell that he could be talking normally like this. As if to confirm his thoughts, the glass coffin that Ryuga was encased in still remained intact. Just as Neo was about to breathe a sigh of relief and call his bluff, he began to notice that his surroundings were getting brighter with each passing moment. That was when he saw trails of dark tentacles streaking across the floor and the air, all headed for Ryuga's body.

"He's absorbing the darkness!" Neo scowled as he recognized what Ryuga was doing but that slowly turned into a full blown grin on his face. That finally meant that Ryuga was going to take this seriously and it also meant more fun for him. He could not wait to fight his brother at full power.

The dark energies poured slowly into Ryuga's body, causing the black veins to erupt all over him once more. He could feel his wounds slowly closing and his fatigue gradually lifting with each passing moment. Though momentary, this power boost was necessary for Ryuga. He could care less about its after effects. What's most important now was that he had the strength to crush Neo and his allies once and for all.

At that point, the dark tentacles of energy vanished, now completely surrounding Ryuga with a thick black aura. The aura seemed to be alive, resonating with a hum as it fueled Ryuga with power. Neo just watched on from a far, his body quivering in anticipation at having to fight Ryuga once more. When Ryuga opened his eyes once more, they flashed with an ominous black instead of their usual crimson color. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Ryuga opened his mouth, announcing the name of his ultimate magic.

"Demon Knight: Activate."

His glass prison the proceeded to shatter instantly as two gigantic black magic circles appeared above and beneath his body. The dark aura enveloped Ryuga' entire body, sticking to various parts of him. Before Neo's bated eyes, the aura began to condense and harden, taking the form of a demonic armor made of pure energy. Ryuga's head was now completely encased in knight-like helm with two horns protruding from the forehead region, resembling that of a feral beast. Every part of his skin was covered in a black and red bony material that hugged tightly like a second layer of skin. His chest was covered in a jagged chest plate that had fang like protrusions from the bottom of it. Similarly, he now had jagged fang like shoulder and knee guards, accompanied by a piece of skirt armor that seemed to be made of black bones. A pair of skulls with gaping jaws was located at the bottom of his feet, acting as adornments for jagged bone boots. His arms had now lost their human shape, being encased in a two gigantic skulls that resembled those of a dragon. Six hollow extensions protruded from his back, red mist seeming seeping out from their openings. What freaked most people out was the presence of seven huge crimson eyes that decorated his body. One on his chest, one on each shoulder guard and knee guard and the last two in each skull's open mouth. Overall he looked like a demon from hell, fitting of his title of Sparda.

While this form struck fear in most, it did little to faze Neo. Having seen it multiple times during their lives in Phantom, Neo was not scared at the least. Instead he was trembling in excitement, knowing what the armor was capable of. It was time to find out which of them was the stronger one.

"As expected, you went with your favorite one, Lucifer's Bane." Neo smirked as he gazed upon Ryuga's demonic form. "Anything less powerful then that and I would be disappointed! Let the real party began now!"

With a hysterical laugh, Neo waved his hand once more, directing all 5 of his corpse puppets towards Ryuga.

Ryuga paid no attention to Neo's words, instead coursing mana through all seven of the eyes on his body. He was sick of getting stuck in this forest, unable to reach their objective. In this form, he could feel the flow of mana and judging from the large congregation of it to the far west, he was pretty sure that was where the artifact was located. The only problem was that there was a forest in between the both of them. So he decided to take the initiative to get rid of it.

"Geist Abend." He called out emotionlessly as seven beams of crimson light fired from the core of each eye, bathing the entire forest and all its inhabitants. Everything the light touched, a small red stigma appeared on it. Neo instantly ducked for cover, not knowing what Ryuga was up to since he had never seen this attack before. On the other hand, Ryuga took precaution not to bathe his team mates in the light, not wanting them to get caught in the attack that followed next.

When nothing happened, Neo had a puzzled expression on his face. He was pretty sure that Ryuga had launched an omnipotent attack against him but there was no damage being done so he was at a lost at what Ryuga had just done.

Unfortunately for him, that misconception instantly cleared up when he saw Ryuga's next movement.

Ryuga held both his hands out sideways, channeling large amounts of mana to the twin skulls at the end of each arm. The result was the skulls glowing a dark crimson, two giant magic circles forming at the end of each.

"Fuck," Neo remarked when he instantly recognized the significance of that gesture. He immediately called back his corpse puppets, having them surround him as a shield just as Ryuga called his next attack.

"God Nemesis."

 **Location Unknown**

Athena was a fierce warrior in her own right. She had seen her fair share of shit and was able to hold her own in a fight. Heck she even ranked sixth amongst some of the most powerful dark mages in the country. So she was fairly surprised with the turn of events that had occurred within the last few hours.

Black Citadel had successfully managed to locate the artifact ahead of the Scarlet Nova mages and sent a team comprising her, Neo, the twins and Rin to recover it. By some dumb luck, the artifact was embedded in a holy tree and given her Nature Manipulation magic; it was only a matter of time before she could recover it. However as a precautionary measure, she decided to tap onto the holy mana flowing in the tree, using it to enhance her own magic. With that she created a labyrinth of thick and dense trees, its purpose to prevent any pesky intruders from disrupting her work. Even so, there was still Neo to deal with.

So she was pretty shocked when she watched her creations instantly disintegrate into ash.

"What the hell!" she screeched as she watched a black wave of lightning tore through the shrubbery surrounding her, burning them instantly into ash. A mage would take forever trying to take down one of them and yet someone was disintegrating them with ease.

Meanwhile Rin shared her sentiments. She squealed in fear as she watched the lightning rip through the tree that they were in as well, corrupting and decaying everything that it touched. She immediately ducked to the floor just as another wave swept too close to her head, almost cleaving her head off.

"Athena!" she called out, causing the other Orochi member to turn her attention to the wave of lightning headed for her.

"Tch!" Athena scowled as she raised her palm, a gold and green magic circle forming at her hands. She did not believe that she could not stop it.

"Nature Manipulation: ENT!" she cried out as a storm of roots erupted from beneath her, swarming towards the wave of lightning with the intent of stopping it. Nature clashed with lightning, releasing stray bursts of energy as both forms of empowered magic tried to overpower each other.

Initially it seemed as though she was able to hold out, causing a grin to appear on Athena's face. However as the seconds passed by, it was evident that the roots were gradually becoming destroyed, causing Athena to scowl and curse out aloud. Even so, she refused to budge from her position, still believing that her magic would hold out till the end. It came to a point whereby the lightning was just mere inches from her face and Rin had to drag her down to avoid her getting skewered.

"Damn it!" Athena snapped, annoyed by the fact that her enhanced magic did almost nothing to stop the attack.

The wave of lightning continued to rage on, shredding the canopy of the holy tree completely. As it gradually disintegrated, the artifact was revealed. Right smack in the centre of the tree ring was a triangular red and golden sheath. As the wave of lightning neared it, a golden energy barrier instantly reacted, repulsing the wave of lightning such that it simply washed over the artifact, leaving it undamaged.

With that, the wave of lightning gradually dissipated, vanishing into a nothing more than a rain of etherious particles. Thankful that it was over, Rin and Athena instantly got to their feet and surveyed the damage done to the surroundings.

"MY FOREST! MY CHILDREN!" Athena howled in anger and sadness as she observed the earth beneath them. It was like the whole place had been hit by a nuclear strike, completely empty and barren. The only thing left standing in the vicinity was the holy tree that they were in, its thick trunk having taken the brunt of the attack.

Rin was horrified as well but for a different reason altogether. From where they were, she had a clear view of whatever was below them. She could see three bodies being covered in a pale green light; no doubt they were the team mates of Ryuga. Further to the east were two others, probably that of the twins. She breathed a momentarily sigh of relief as she watched Neo emerged unscathed from the attack, shielded by his army of corpses before she turned her attention back to the figure of her fear.

Before Neo was a figure cloaked in darkness, arms out-stretched in the opposite directions. Despite the stupid pose, Rin knew well enough that he was probably the one that initiated the attack and that set her on guard but that was not the main reason why she was trembling in her boots.

The numbers that were dancing before her eyes were practically off the charts. Athena's number stood at a shocking 4800 and Neo's even higher at 6500. But that man, his was way higher than both of theirs and the figures were still climbing.

"7000. 7600. 8500. 9000." She breathed in disbelief. It was not possible for a human to possess that much magical power and still remain alive. At his current level, she only knew of 2 other people in the guild that could take him on, and Neo was not one of them.

"Neo," she whispered in panic, fearing for the Blood Mage for the first time in her life.

Meanwhile back on the ground, Neo grunted as he heaved his way out of the shield of corpses that protected him. All of them except Yura were badly scorched and some were already on the verge of disintegrating.

"Tch," Neo scowled as he watched his toys crumble to pieces. It took him a while to find suitable hosts for Balrog's magic to take root and now almost all of them were gone. But still it was a fair price to pay, especially when he could have a once in a lifetime's chance of fighting Ryuga at full strength.

"Oh well," he shrugged as he readied himself in a battle stance. "Guess I have to fight fair and square now." He was pretty sure that he could take Ryuga with Balrog. Although he was no swordsman, the extra power boost the demonic weapon gave him was more than enough to cover up for it.

At the same time, Zephyr grunted slightly as his eyelids began to flutter open. A searing pain throbbed all across his body, in particular his face and upper chest but he was alive nonetheless. With a heave, he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the fact that his body was yelling for him to lie back down. He would have continued to rest; if not for the surge of energy he felt earlier when he was unconscious. It was so thick that it practically suffocated him, forcing him to wake up to prevent an overload of sensory input.

"Boss?" Zephyr wheezed in pain as he stared at the demonic form of Ryuga. Hell he didn't even know if that was Ryuga just by looking but judging from the energy that was seeping out of him; he recognized it as his teacher's.

"Zephyr, can you stand?" Ryuga asked coldly, his eyes never leaving Neo. That sent a shiver down Zephyr's spine but he nodded slowly. Ryuga never spoke like that to him before. He was always kind and patient with him, but the thing before him was cold and emotionless. It screamed evil all over in Zephyr's head but the fact still remained that it was Ryuga. Just what the hell happened when he was out?

"Take Liliana and Vali away from here as far and as fast as possible. The giant tree behind me has the artifact. Defeat the other two there and retrieve it" Ryuga ordered, completely forgetting that Zephyr had barely just recovered.

"But Boss," Zephyr started only for Ryuga to shoot him a murderous glance, the killer intent he was giving off practically visible at this point.

"Get going. If you stay, I cannot guarantee that I won't kill you by accident." Ryuga gave a low growl, causing Zephyr to sweat buckets.

"What happened to you Ryuga?" Zephyr thought to himself in fear as he slung an unconscious Liliana and Vali over each shoulder. Despite the pain in his legs, Zephyr broke off into a sprint, dashing past Ryuga and towards the tree beyond him. Ryuga felt and looked exactly like the thing they have resolved to defeat and yet he was supposed to be their ally.

"Screw that. The mission comes first." Zephyr pushed the unnecessary thoughts out of his head, deciding to focus on the mission that they were tasked with. He was sure Ryuga had a good explanation for this when this was all over.

"You ain't escaping," Neo declared as he took after the fleeing Zephyr, only to be halted by the reappearance of Ryuga in front of him.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot about our match Brother." Neo smirked as he stared down Ryuga, the excitement barely contained on his face. "How kind of you to remind me."

"A match?" Ryuga echoed ominously, causing Neo's eyes to narrow slightly. "No. This will be a one sided massacre, Neo. At the end of this, only one of use will be leaving this place alive."

"There's no other way I would prefer it." Neo grinned savagely as he prepared for battle, ready to strike at the first chance he got.

Time seemed to stand still for both men as a moment of silence past. Then with a battle cry, the final battle between brothers begun.

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	12. Scarlet Nova: Christmas Specials!

**A/N:** _Hi guys! Long time no see. Christmas is currently around the corner and it's a season of joy and giving. So, for your Christmas present, here's a special edition of Scarlet Nova for you guys since you have all been such nice reviewers and supporters XD. I would like to thank Elegant Soul for giving me the idea and helping to structure a part of the story. Couldn't have done it without her_ _._

 _For those that are curious, this edition encompasses details after the post Black Citadel fight so be warned, there are spoilers within the story itself. However, I hope that doesn't deter you guys from reading it since it is a Christmas Gift and all._

 _With that let's get the party started and I wish all you readers out there a happy festive season and a jolly, merry Christmas!_

 **Scarlet Nova Guild house, Dec 24, X791**

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way…" chorused the young choir of children as they stood in the middle of Akaba, Valgore's shopping district, and handed out Christmas flyers. All around them, people were hustling in and out of the shops, buying various gifts and food for the upcoming festive day. While not all the shops were open due to most of the owners returning to their respective home towns to celebrate the festive season, those that were still continued to greet their customers with a wide smile on their face as they exchanged seasonal greetings with each other.

It was that time of the year again in Valgore, the time of celebration and giving. While Valgore was usually warm and humid all year round, the climate changes once a year near the end of it to fit a more Christmas theme. So for that one month or so, Valgore experiences snow that never stops falling, bringing joy to most of the town's inhabitants. Unfortunately due to this, most forms of transportation close earlier than expected, so most people have to book their rides early lest they do not make it back in time home for the festive season.

While the mages of Scarlet Nova were usually busy with missions or other things of certain importance, Glaive has made it a point that they all had to be town during the festive season. Like it or not, they were all part of one big family and Glaive expected a family gathering in the form of a Christmas Dinner every year without fail. Of course, this was no ordinary dinner so preparations had to be made early and with a lot of fanfare. Due to the large size of their Guild house, the Scarlet Nova mages had spent lots of time over the week trying to decorate it. It was not until now did they finally make the finishing touches onto their masterpiece.

The Guild house was literally decked in tinsel and flashing lacrima that glowed in various colors in the night. This covered almost every inch of the enormous building and it almost made the place resemble a large Christmas tree. As if to add on to the effect, the lone tower behind the main guild house had a single golden star positioned on top of it. Even the inside of the guild house was redecorated to a certain extent. The carpeted floors of the guild hall were all replaced with some form of carpet grass and the surrounding walls held rosemary wreaths that had glowing ethereal Christmas Themed Cheers floating around them. There was even a small artificial fireplace created just for the sake of the occasion, by the left side of the Guild house.

"Come on people, we still have work to do," Glaive called out from the second floor as he clapped his hands to get the attention of the mages that were currently scurrying in and out of the guild hall. Most of them shot him back a thumb up or a grin of acknowledgement while the quieter ones nodded back.

Glaive let out a small sigh as a smile was brought to his face. They didn't really have this at Fairy Tail back in the days and boy was he glad that he could finally carry this out with his own guild. Though they all hailed from different walks of life, Glaive still felt that it was important for all of them to be here together once a year to have dinner together. They were all members of Scarlet Nova, and therefore a part of his family.

Below him, Seras was concentrating with her magic. While her magic was usually used for forming large landscapes, she decided to try something special for once. Something much smaller.

"Terraforming: Table" she called out as she pictured a large marble table in her mind. Luckily for her, the thing that popped out from beneath the ground turned out exactly as she visualized. An elongated oval black marble table with streaks of white erupted from the ground in front of her, stretching and covering almost the whole length of the guild hall.

"Well I guess that's about right," Seras thought out aloud. It was slightly larger than what she wanted but then her Father said they might be expecting guests, so she guessed that it would do for now. Calling upon her magic once more, she formed 34 small stone pedestals that served as chairs, lining each side of the table and a lone pedestal at the end of the table that was for her Father.

The guild doors suddenly burst open, revealing Aiden carrying an enormous Christmas tree. Even with his magic, Aiden was still sweating, a testament to the tree's weight. The whole thing had to be carried in sideways or else it would never fit through the guild's doors. Behind him trailed Scar, who was still wearing that expressionless look on her face. Further back, a bunch of Scar's animal friends followed suit and entered the guild hall. Worried that they could not take the cold weather, Scar had sought Glaive's permission to bring them into the guild to which he readily agreed. That was also one of the main reasons why there was carpeted grass, to make the animals feel more at home.

Swiftly, Scar directed her companions, with Warrior at the helm of them, towards the fireplace where they would be nice and snug. The animals instantly bounded to the source of heat, huddling against each other for the extra warmth. Scar took up point beside them as well, leaning back against Warrior as she enjoyed the heat the fireplace provided and the warmth her companions gave.

"Seras, where should this thing go?" Aiden asked as he desperately tried to see from the thick canopy. The darn thing's leaves and height were obscuring his vision.

"Next to the fireplace will do Aiden," Seras replied, hoping that he could hear her.

"Err, where's that?" Aiden asked with a puzzled expression on his face. That was when Seras let out a small giggle, realizing that he was completely blind at this point.

"Ok, take ten paces to your right. Followed by another 10 paces forward." Seras commanded. Aiden had no choice but to follow blindly, sincerely hoping that Seras did not pull a prank on him.

"Be careful," Reminded Scar monotonously. She did not want any of her animal friends getting hurt in the process.

Luckily for her, he did not. In one swift movement, he flipped the tree upright and placed it right next to the warm fireplace. He then proceeded to take a few steps back to observe the handiwork.

"Damn that's a big tree," Aiden commented as he gazed at it. The tip of the tree was almost reaching the top of the guild house. How on earth were they going to get it decorated and place the star on top?

"Well, Father had some friends who specialized in Nature magic help him grow the tree. I'm guessing that's what happens when you speed up something's growth with magic." Seras chuckled.

"Alright, it your turn now ladies," Aiden told Hikari and Asuna who were sitting at the bar. Both female mages acknowledged with slight nods of their heads as they proceeded to get to work. They were both in charge of decorating the tree and given their magics, it was a good choice too.

"Silver make: Wires" Asuna shot forth her liquid silver, allowing it to gently coil around the tree. This silver had a tinge of sparkles in it though, courtesy of Asuna soaking the silver in confetti before she used it. This caused the tree to glitter in the dim light, brightening up the room to a certain degree.

On the other hand, Hikari concentrated her light magic into assorted colored lacrima, causing each of them to sparkle with a different hue. When she was done, she proceeded to attach them to Asuna's silver wire. The silver wire acted just like a conveyor belt, transporting the colorful lacrima up and around the tree. Within moments, the decoration of the tree was complete. Now all that was left was the star on top of it.

Aiden whistled as he gazed upon the near complete Christmas tree. It looked darn good if he said so himself. Even Hikari and Asuna were smiling when they admired their handiwork. The Christmas tree did look nice and sparkly, fitting well into their guild hall.

Meanwhile Klein had just woken up from his nap, having finished his Christmas task earlier in the week. The first thing that caught his eye was the sparkly Christmas tree and he had to agree that his guild mates did go out of their way to impress. He then walked down the halls of the guild as Yuki flew next to him. Everything was already decorated for Christmas and he was sure that the dinner was going to be a blast as well. That brought a wide grin to his face as he imagined the fun that everyone was about to have.

Klein then saw Chantal, sitting on a window still and gazing out at the snow covered town of Valgore, with a sad expression. She was stroking Aengus, who was nested in her lap. That caused Klein to frown in confusion.

"Why is Chantal still here?" Klein asked Yuki. "Shouldn't she be at home right now?"

"Klein, remembered the mission we took the week before? Chantal was supposed to leave, but you begged us to take that mission. Now all travel methods are closed because of the thick snow and Chantal doesn't want to risk exhausting her animal friends just to get home," Yuki said. "This is first her Christmas separated from her family."

Klein mentally punched himself. He remembered Chantal acted a little unsure taking the mission, but she willing accepted it, like . . . she didn't want to disappoint him. Now because of him, Chantal is miserable.

All of a sudden, Klein had a brilliant idea. As he whispered his idea to Yuki, a wide smile appeared on her face as well. Silently, they signaled to the other guild members that were in the guild currently; explaining what he wanted to do.

"Hey, Chantal," Klein greeted her with a big smile as he entered the room, making her and Angus look up at him.

"Oh, hi, Klein," Chantal said, trying to sound chirpier.

"I have something to show you; come here," Klein said, gently pulling her to her feet and lead her to the fireplace, and Angus followed them.

There stood the large Christmas tree, beautifully decorated, and surrounded by Seras, Aiden, Hikari and Asuna. Chantal then noticed something was missing from the tree.

"Why hasn't Seras put the star on yet?" Chantal asked, remembering who Glaive announcing as who would have the honors of doing it this year.

"Well . . . I told Seras what happened . . . and I asked her if you could do it instead . . . and she agreed," Klein said. Chantal swiftly looked at him. "Scarlet Nova is family, Chantal . . . and since you're not with your family . . . you should feel welcomed into ours."

At this point, Scar took out her violin and started playing a short Christmas melody. Her animal companions upon hearing it, started to howl in tune with it, making it all the more melodious.

"Klien . . . thank you . . . for making me feel . . . happy again . . . this Christmas," Chantal said, smiling at him, and Klein found himself smiling back at her.

That was when the mages heard a squeal coming from near the top of the tree.

"Oh, brother," Yuki said, getting their attention. Chantal and Klein followed Yuki's gaze to see Aengus on top of a shelf, and somehow tied the mistletoe around his tail so it now hung above them.

Aengus smirked at them with a goofy grin, causing the rest of the mages to erupt in laughter, filling the empty guild hall with sounds of fun and life.

 **Scarlet Nova Guild Dorm**

"Well they certainly sound like they're having fun," commented Tsukiko as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Beside her, Aly giggled softly as she nodded her head in agreement. Judging from the laughter that was coming within the guild, something humorous must have probably happened.

"Well, I guess that just means we better speed up our work if we wanna join them," Aly smiled.

"I agree, but how?" Tsukiko groaned. "It's not like this place will stop snowing anytime soon."

Both girls were put in charge of thawing the snow and ice that was currently building up on top of the guild house. According to Nerys, who had a knack for architecture, she said that the roof of the guild house might collapse if too much snow accumulated on it, partially due to the building's age as well.

Aly paused momentarily, closing her eyes as she tried to think of ideas. Tsukiko was right. Unless they could find a way to stop the snow from piling up, they weren't going to get anywhere with their task.

Then, a brain wave hit her.

"Hey, Tsukiko," She called out to her team mate who was wearing a dreary expression. "Check this out."

Aly coursed mana through her arms, forming a blue magic circle before her open palms as she called out the name of her spell.

"Azure Dirt" she echoed softly as twin balls of blue fire shot out of her palms, coating the entire roof in a bright blue field.

"Whoa, are you off your rocker Aly?" Tsukiko freaked as she watched the blue flames spread across the entire roof. "You're going to burn the guild house down."

"Relax," Aly replied with a smile on her face, having found the solution to their problem. "Just touch the flames."

Tsukiko's eyes almost popped out when she heard Aly's request but the smile on Aly's face seemed to soothe her nerves. Reluctantly, she bent down and placed her hands on the roof.

"Strange," She remarked as she brushed her hands to and fro between the flames. "The fire is not hot, it just warm. It's like I'm standing on a warm grass patch."

"That's right." Aly grinned. "All I did was change the intensity of the flames. Now it's warm enough to melt the snow but not hot enough to burn the roof."

"Plus, I'm pretty sure it's quite cool to see this baby burning at night," she added. "Adds to the decoration of this place."

"I get it now," Tsukiko returned her smile with one of her own. Now she was getting excited. She did not know that one could change the properties of fire like that. She wondered if she could do the same with her Dragon-slayer magic.

Well, there only one way to find out.

"Solar Dragon's Barrier," Tsukiko called out as she fired a golden wave from her open palm. The wave washed over the adjacent roof from them, creating a thin golden barrier on it. While the barrier did not burn like Aly's flames, it still generated enough heat to cause the snow on top of the roof to start to melt.

"Yes!" Tsukiko punched her fist into the air while Aly watched on with amazement.

"Not what I had in mind, but that's a swell job there." Aly complimented as she gave Tsukiko a high-five.

"Now we can definitely finish our job faster. I can't wait to get inside and snuggle by the fireplace." Tsukiko remarked happily

"Sounds great to me!" Aly agreed, and with that both females got back to work, eager to stay warm and snug within the guild house.

Below them within the guild's courtyard, another bunch of mages were hard at work as well.

Or should one say, hard at play.

"SNOW!" exclaimed Judar as he twirled over and over in the open courtyard, fascinated by the rare cold climate that he heard about in Valgore. All around him, snowdrops fell one after another, causing the Sand Dragon Slayer's eyes to twinkle with amazement and joy.

"SNOW!" both Flora and Vento echoed after him, equally excited about playing in the cold. Well that was to be expected since Judar and Flora both hailed from a desert region and have never seen snow before. Vento on the other hand was just purely excited about spending time playing in the snow.

"C'mon guys," Cora reminded, her hands on her hips. "We're supposed to be removing the snow, not playing in it."

"Nah!" All three of them replied simultaneously, sticking out their tongues at Cora.

"Why you guys," Cora forced a grin out of her face despite all the tick marks that were forming on her forehead at this point. Why did she have to babysit this bunch of mages?

"Well, I better get started first," Cora sighed to herself as she began to dig deep into the snow with the shovel she was given.

"Look, I'm making a snow angel!" Judar called out as he fell backwards onto the patch of snow covering the courtyard, flailing his arms and legs sideways. Slowly but surely, a distorted snow angel began to take shape, creating sparkles of amusement in the eyes of Flora and Vento.

"That looks fun!" remarked Vento as Flora nodded her head as well. Both of them fell back on the snowy floor as well, attempting to create their own snow angels.

"Guys," pleaded Cora, "Can we please start doing our job?" It was sub zero temperatures outside and she really wanted to be back in the guild house soon, sipping a warm mug of cocoa.

"Nah!" All three of them replied at the same again, this pulling out their lower lips instead.

"Grrr…" Cora growled silently as she received the same response, her patience wearing thin. Nonetheless she still continued to dig, though one could hear her venting her frustrations if they listened closely.

"Snowball fight!" Judar called out again, gathering and shaping the snow in his hands as he fired the snowballs one after another.

"Eeep!" Vento squealed as he ducked for cover to avoid the onslaught. He too scooped up snow from the ground, rolling them into snowballs and returning fire. Meanwhile Flora was darting through the skies, raining balls of snow on the "battlefield' as though she was a fighter jet. Squeals of excitement echoed throughout the courtyard, courtesy of the three way battle between the two mages and one exceed.

"Guys," Cora started for the third time but this time she did not manage to finish her sentence as three snowballs all smacked her straight in the face.

"Oopsies," grinned Judar as he stuck his head out from his hiding spot. Vento and Flora were both holding their hands to their mouths, desperately trying to stop themselves from laughing out loud.

Well that did it for Cora and she finally snapped.

"ALRIGHT YOU RASCALS! YOUR ON!" she raged though the grin on her face said otherwise. Scooping up some snow of her own, Cora hurled her snowballs with deadly accuracy. Each of them smacking the two mages and exceed squarely in the face as well.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Judar laughed as he wiped the snow from his face, returning fire from his hiding spot behind the stairs.

"Yeah!" both Vento and Flora cheered; unfazed by the fact that Cora was supposedly angry at them. They too continued their snowball fight, this time accompanied by Cora.

Despite their disobedience, Cora could not help but find herself smiling. Christmas was all about having fun wasn't it. So she guess she could cut them slack for now. After all she was enjoying herself as well.

"Well, I guess I should loosen up once in a while," Cora thought out loud as she dodged another snowball from Vento and shot one back at Flora.

"I just sure hope Master Glaive won't mind if our work got delayed."

Ryuga peered out his dormitory window as he heard the commotion coming from the courtyard. From what he could tell, it seemed like a four way snowball fight. The kid within him was itching to take part in it as well, having been deprived a childhood since young. However he had something more serious to attend to at the moment.

Something that he held very dearly to his heart.

Ryuga's room was very simply decorated unlike most of the other dorms. The place was not particularly big per se, having only a living room and two other rooms, one of which was for the toilet and the other for sleeping. He kept the grey and brown interior of the room, having found it a hassle to redecorate. The living room had only a small brown sofa and two armchairs, meant for visitors, with a centre coffee table. On the wall hung some of his past requests taken up and a rack which displayed a few of his demonic amours. Most people would consider the place rather normal, until they say the pile of presents that lay at the corner of the room. Above the pile of presents was a small picture on a miniature altar, showing the image of a young tanned girl smiling warmly.

"Happy Birthday Yura," Ryuga smiled as he sat before the picture, placing the items in his hands down. In his right was a rectangular present with green wrapping and a big red bow while in his left was small strawberry shortcake that he bought from the local confectionary. He then proceeded to place the present with the rest of the pile, something that he had done for the past 9 years. After which, he lit a single candle and placed it on the cake, humming the birthday song as he did so.

Yura's birthday was right before Christmas, making it easy for Ryuga to remember. This was even more so after she passed away. Whenever the festive season arrived, most people would be exhilarated but not Ryuga. It meant that he had to spend another lonely year celebrating her birthday all over again, something that pained him. Because of this, he always chose to take the day off before Christmas day, worried that his grief would affect the holiday spirit of the other guild members.

So imagine his surprise when he heard someone falling face first onto the ground.

"Whose there," he demanded. Within seconds, a pair of sweater arms shot up and a voice pleaded, "Please don't skewer me."

"What are you doing Neel?" Ryuga asked, the tone in his voice being gentler now. Neel popped her head out from behind the sofa, a sheepish grin on her face.

"Sorry to intrude Ryuga, but you didn't lock the door when you came in, so I just let myself in." Neel explained, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's ok," Ryuga replied, letting out an internal sigh of relief that it wasn't Seras or Glaive. He really did not want them to worry about him now with the festive season around the corner.

"Who's that?" Neel asked cheerfully, popping herself on the floor beside Ryuga as she gazed at Yura's portrait. "She's really pretty."

"Well, that's my deceased girlfriend," Ryuga answered, the sadness in his voice barely detectable but Neel still picked up a tinge of it, her smile slowly disappearing when she realized she hit a sore point of Ryuga's.

"My condolences," she muttered, apologizing for her insensitive question. Ryuga just shook his head, telling her that it wasn't her fault at all. She was just curious after all.

"So is that why you vanish every time the day before Christmas?" She asked, Ryuga nodding in reply.

"Her birthday falls the day before Christmas." Ryuga explained. "When she was alive, we celebrated it together alone. Even when she has passed on, I still continue this tradition of celebrating her birthday and delivering her a present. It would have been what she wanted."

"Doesn't that hurt?" Neel asked, the concern visible in her voice. "Having to relive the memory of your loved one?"

"Not really," Ryuga lied. "I've grown used to it over the years."

"You can't lie to me Ryuga." Neel countered, her tone being more serious now. "You were my teacher, so I know exactly how you feel and act. You have to stop putting on a brave front before others. We are all only human after all."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Ryuga sighed as he gazed into Neel's eyes. "I don't want anyone to worry about me and spoil the Christmas mood. My problems should be mine to burden alone."

That caused to Neel to pause for a while before her eyes sparkled once more, a brilliant idea crossing her mind.

"You can talk to me then," Neel declared, a proud look on her face. "I'll be your personal adviser and consultant from now on."

"But…" Ryuga started, only for Neel to wag a finger in his face.

"No buts," she insisted. "Consider it as thanks for mentoring me over the past year. Besides, now that I know of your problem, I can't exactly stay quiet."

Ryuga just sighed inwardly as a small smile appeared across his face. Neel always had a way with words, easily persuading people especially with that look on her face. There was just no way of out talking her.

"You remind me of her a lot," Ryuga started, gazing at Yura's portrait.

"Your girlfriend?" Neel asked.

"Yep, "Ryuga replied, the smile on his face growing bigger. "Like you, she always knew what to do when I was having trouble. Even when I deny it, she would still see right through me."

"Well, I guess that makes it easier for you to talk to me then," Neel grinned. "You just have to imagine me to be as your girlfriend."

"I guess," Ryuga laughed heartily, feeling the burden in his heart easing.

"I just hope I can be your girlfriend one day…" Neel muttered softly amidst Ryuga's laughter, her face blushing slightly as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Did you say something?"

"N…no…nothing," Neel stammered anxiously, her face turning beet red as she waved her hands to dismiss Ryuga's thoughts. That was a close call.

Ryuga just shrugged, deciding to leave it as that for now and enjoy her company instead.

"Thanks again, Neel."

"No problem, Ryuga. Anytime."

 **Scarlet Nova Guild house, Kitchen**

"You know, my magic isn't really meant for this kind of thing," Zion muttered underneath his breath as he inserted another clump of magma into the stove. "It's called God Slaying magic for a reason and I don't see any Gods to kill in here."

That earned him a knock on the head with a ladle by Vali.

"The only thing you're gonna kill is the turkey dish, ok." Vali reminded. "Everyone's gonna be eating it tonight so don't overcook it." Zion, Liliana and he were put in charge of making the night's dinner feast by Glaive and while all three of them barely had any cooking experience, they were determined not to mess this up.

"Roger that," Zion sighed. "I still don't get it why I was chosen. Can't you get Aly instead, or better yet Ryuga since either of them has a clue of what they are actually doing in here. All I'm doing is making sure that there's enough heat in the stove."

"Well, Ryuga's out on personal business and Aly's busy with thawing the roof." Vali replied as he paused while stirring the broth. He then proceeded to add in a bunch of spices and some carrots before turning up the heat just a little to let everything simmer. "Besides, Ryuga left a cook book with recipes, so we should be fine."

That was until there was a miniature explosion from the oven to the left of them, thick black smoke billowing out from what was left of the oven.

Liliana emerged from the wreck coughing, soot covering her entire face and chest. In her hands was pile of cinders on a metal plate, supposedly the Christmas pudding that she had put into the oven 15 minutes ago.

"Sorry guys, I forgot to turn down the heat at the 10 minute mark." Liliana apologized with a sheepish look on her face, earning stupefied expressions from both Zion and Vali.

"You still think so?" Zion asked without averting his gaze from the cooking disaster.

Vali did not even bother answering, knowing that he was probably right.

20 minutes later, Zion and Vali finally managed to clean up Liliana's mess, having made a replacement pudding in record time. Liliana was now on chopping duty, slicing pieces of vegetables and fruit for the salad. Despite the easier task, both Zion and Vali still prayed that she did not forget to remove her fingers when doing the cutting.

"So who do you think is gonna come tonight?" Zion asked as he seasoned the minced beef with a dash of pepper and herbs.

"Santa Claus?" Liliana suggested, instantly visualizing the red and white old man busting open the guild doors with a bag full of presents.

"No, silly," Vali laughed. "Zion's referring to the guests that Master Glaive mentioned a while back. If you ask me, I think it's gonna be Fairy Tail. Master Glaive and Master Makarov go way back apparently."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Zion, looking up from his task at hand. "I really hope so, cause there's someone I really want to fight there." The God Slayer's face lit up as he looked forward to having his potential showdown with the Fairy Tail member.

"Salamander?" Vali asked, receiving Zion's nod of confirmation.

"Yup. I heard he fought and beat Zancrow from Grimoire Heart seven years ago and he grew even stronger since then. I can't wait to see how I fair against him." Zion grinned.

"I hope you take it outside the guild house though, if he does show up." Liliana sweat dropped. A fight between two slayers would probably only destroy the guild house, if they were lucky. "Is there someone you're looking forward to seeing Vali?"

"Probably Lucy," Vali replied without looking up from his task of applying the whipped cream to some puff pastry. "Since we're both celestial spirit mages, I was hoping she could give me some advice on how to communicate with my celestial spirits. They are always rude and receive to speak."

"I see," Liliana had her hand against her cheek as she thought about it. "Well, I guess we will only find out tonight now. We should probably focus on the dishes now. We won't want anyone complaining of not eating their fill tonight."

"Of course." Vali smiled.

"Hell yeah," Zion smirked.

Guild members and guests alike, they were going to make sure that they had nothing but praise for the food they made.

 **Valgore, Akaba Shopping District**

Near the fountain of Akaba, a small shed had been temporarily set up there. It was made rather haphazardly, with just stacks of wooden planks to act as walls and a red curtain draped over the top of it in order to shield the contents of the shed. A medium sized brown sofa was set right in front of it and two miniatures Christmas trees flanked it. On a normal circumstance, many would have shunned it, thinking it was a sham. However, there was currently a long queue in front of it, all of them children nonetheless.

Well that was to be expected when they saw who was running the store.

"Hohoho! Merry Christmas!" Shinji cheered in a deep voice from beneath his thick beard. He was currently dressed as Santa Claus, fully decked out in the standard red and white suit He was even wearing a beard and had a round pot-belly as well, help from the 2 layers of cushions beneath his shirt. Beside him were Padme and Hanaku, both wearing rather thin clothing for such a cold weather. They were wearing a single piece dress that exposed a rather large amount of their cleavage and short miniskirts. To complete the look, they wore red caps and knee tall high heeled boots, resembling Santa's helpers to a certain degree.

"Merry Christmas," Hanaku smiled as waved at the crowd of children while Padme rang the small bell in her hands. Despite their smiles, their teeth were chattering and their bodies trembled, courtesy of the cold winds that were blowing. No doubt thanks to the ridiculous outfits that Shinji had handpicked for them.

"Remember to kill this airhead later," Hanaku growled under her breath, the joyful smile not leaving her face.

"Don't worry about it," Padme replied softly, "He will never see it coming."

"I had no choice," Shinji lied. "There were only these costumes left in the store." Well, in actual fact the whole shop was decked in Christmas suits but Shinji had told the owner to pick the skimpiest ones instead. 'I still think you all look beautiful in them, with an extra tinge of sexiness, eroticness…"

Before Shinji's mind could run its fantasies any further, both girls stamped their high heeled boots into each of Shinji's foot, causing the Gunner mage to yelp in pain and his eyes to almost pop out of their sockets.

"Behave." Came the simple reply of both girls.

"Ok, ok," Shinji chuckled as he received the next kid. By the looks of it, this kid no more than 10 years old, having an innocent smile on his face. "Hello, my dear. What would you like to have this Christmas?"

"I would like to have a Pikachu please, preferably one that's yellow, cute and fuzzy!' the boy smiled.

"One Pikachu, coming right up." Padme smiled as she placed her hand around the boy's head momentarily, a small violet glow appearing quickly before vanishing. While the boy looked confused initially, Shinji and Hanaku quickly reassured him that it was nothing while Padme took her leave to within the shed.

Inside the cramped quarters of the shed sat Otis and Yami, a small table in front of them filled with girt wrappers and empty boxes. When Padme entered, they knew it was time to get to work.

"It must be fun playing as Santa Claus," remarked Yami as he watched Padme enter with a smile on her face. "It totally beats being Santa's toy maker elves."

"Then would you like to exchange outfits with me? I would totally die to be in those warm jackets of yours." Padme's smile darkened instantly, her face now contorted from the cold.

"I think we'll pass." Otis laughed. There was no way he would be caught dead in that outfit. The girls had begged the two of them to keep quiet about this from the guild which they agreed reluctantly. If anything, Shinji had some perverted taste in clothing, not that he or Yami minded.

Well the same could not be said for Shinji who was probably gonna get hell from them when this was all over.

"Dream Empress: Connection." Padme called out as a small violet magic circle appeared at her fingertips. Within seconds, the same magic circle appeared at the sides of Otis and Yami's heads, receiving the image that she had just witnessed from the boys' memories.

"Well then, let's get to it." Otis said as he began manipulating the snow on the floor. They instantly converged into the space between his two palms, forming a regular ball of snow. With a few swipes of hand movements, Otis skillfully managed to recreate the ears, tail and face of the Pikachu before adding the few finishing touches which were the stripes and cheeks.

"My turn," Yami smiled as he activated his own magic. A black magic circle appeared beneath the Pikachu, extending it shadow by twice the size.

"Shadow Replica," Yami commanded as an identical Pikachu, this one completely black, appeared from within the extended shadow. Unlike the snow Pikachu which crumbled instantly after, the shadow Pikachu did not, instead maintaining the original's softness and shape permanently. With a quick swipe of some paint, the adorable and fluffy yellow Pikachu made it appearance.

"Send our regards to the kid Padme," Otis smiled.

"Why not you guys just come out and say so yourselves?" Padme asked curiously.

"And spoil the surprise?" Yami grinned. "It's Santa's job to give out the presents. Toy making elves like us shouldn't steal the limelight."

"Here you go," Padme handed the toy Pikachu replica to the boy, causing his eyes to sparkle and his grin to widen.

"OMG, THANK YOU SANTA!" The boy squealed as he hugged his new toy. "This is the best present ever! Thank you and have a merry Christmas!" he chirped before running off, eager to get home to show his parents.

"Well, the same to you too," called Hanaku as she waved to the boy's fleeting figure. It sure felt good handing them presents.

The only problem was that the queue in front of them was not growing much shorter.

That meant that they were going to be stuck in these clothes for quite some time.

"Make reminder to self to kill Shinji," both girls thought out aloud, causing Shinji to grin cheekily as his cheerful voice rang through the air once more.

"Hohoho, Merry Christmas!"

 **Orphanage at the edge of Valgore**

"Charlie, get off my back! James, stop pulling my hair! I told you your turn will come soon! And you Rudolf zip that mouth of yours! You're drooling all over the wool!"

Kozmotis was snarling in so many different directions at once that he himself lost count already. There were just too many children clamoring all over him. While his voice sounded harsh, it lacked the natural dark tone he usually gave off. The children, having been used to that voice of his, did not seem intimidated, but rather amused instead.

"How the hell is a guy supposed to knit in peace here?" Kozmotis yelled to the heavens, seemingly frustrated by the noise that the children were making. He was trying so hard to make sweaters for them, if only they let him concentrate. They were all talking and laughing at once, interrupting his thought process and that was making him feel very angst.

Even so, he did not find the heart to lash out at the kids strange enough, resorting to cursing under his breath for a change.

"I said tone down you runts!" he hissed, though he was effectively ignored again. "I swear to God, I am regretting doing this right now! There could be nothing worse than this."

As if God heard him, challenge accepted.

"Hello guys!" an all too familiar voice called out from the front door of the orphanage, distracting the kids with all of them rushing towards the door to greet the visitors. On the other hand, it caused Kozmotis to freeze over instantly.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!' he cursed as he desperately tried to pack up his sewing kit and find a place to hide. There was no way in hell he was going to let his guild mates catch him doing this. They would let him hear the end of it. Sure he could silence some of them by scaring, but he knew all too well that the owner of the voice would be far from intimidated.

He was in the midst of stuffing the wool into his pockets when he heard the room's door knob turn. Instinctively, he leapt for the nearest window, trying to save his face while he still could. Unfortunately, he tripped against a table leg at the last second, hitting the window pane face first and sliding to the ground. That was when the door opened.

"Fudgebuckets." He cursed

From the door walked in Gemma, her face smiling as she held the hands of the numerous kids encircling her. Behind her was Rhea, carrying bags of goodies and toys that they had bought on the way here. Both mages instantly saw Kozmotis lying flat on the ground with his arse high up in the air. For a second, they were shell shocked, their jaws left hanging. In the next, Gemma had already burst out laughing while Rhea covered her mouth and turned away, trying her best to stifle her giggles.

Kozmotis' face instantly darkened, though it wasn't visible to anyone from his angle. Acting as if nothing had happened, he picked himself up and dusted his coat. Wordlessly, he rushed for the exit, grabbing both Gemma and Rhea by their collars. With that he slammed the door, leaving the children to their own devices for the time being.

They were going to have to talk.

"Spill a word and I'll spill your blood." Hissed Kozmotis as he got straight to the point. It was bad enough having the loud-mouth know his secret. He didn't intend on anyone else figuring out as well.

"Big words from a big man," Gemma smirked. "but you don't scare me. I have seen bigger men who are at least twice as bad as you."

"Well this big man is telling you nicely to shut up or he'll shut you down permanently." Kozmotis growled lowly, killer intent already starting to seep out of him.

"Oh really, is that the best you can do?" Gemma teased, acting all frightened and shivering. "I'm quaking in my boots and crying for my mommy."

That did it for Kozmotis. "All right then, how about I just kill you right here and now! Saves me the trouble anyway!" he snarled, beginning to unsheathe the sword hidden in his cane.

"Bring it on! I'll take you down in a sec!" Gemma grinned as she stood up to his challenge, her left arm forming an iron sword and her right a giant mallet.

And then Rhea came right in between them and bashed their heads.

"Enough, both of you." She said simply.

"The hell!" Kozmotis bared his teeth as he glared at Rhea but he sheathed his sword nonetheless.

"Right, sorry." Gemma smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the bruise on her head.

"So what brings you here anyway? Not that I care much." Kozmotis demanded

"Well, I didn't really experience much love from my parents since young, so I decided to make a change to those around me. These orphans are way worse off than me in the sense that they don't have any parents to start with so I wanted to spend time with them playing. To make their lives more enjoyable and not as gloomy." Explained Gemma. "What about you?"

"Something along the same lines." Kozmotis shrugged. "Now pay up."

"I see…WAIT WHAT!" Gemma suddenly exclaimed, the later part of his answer just registering into her head.

"You asked me for information, so I expect some form of compensation."

"Screw that! You asked me the question first. Who the hell pays for this kind of shitty reason?" Gemma protested.

"Do you want to make these kids happy or not." Kozmotis snorted.

Gemma clicked her tongue, annoyed by his attitude but she still agreed with it. It was for the sake of the orphans after all. "What do you want?"

"Keep them occupied while I finish my sewing." Kozmotis answered simply. "I intend to make them each a woolen sweater and I need some time and privacy."

That almost made Gemma burst out laughing again, only for Rhea to smack her on the head again. "Yeah, we could do that." Rhea smiled warmly, answering in Gemma's stead.

Kozmotis snorted, turning his back to them as he proceeded to the armchair at the end of the hallway.

"You're actually a nice guy deep down, aren't you?" Gemma smirked at the leaving figure of Kozmotis.

"Can it." He retorted without looking back. There was way too much bullshit for his liking already.

 **Valgore Post Office**

"Well that's the last of It." wheezed the old man from behind the counter as he handed the last sack to Blitz.

"Thanks for your help Gramps," Zephyr smiled as he watched the old man off the lights in the post office.

"No, it should be thanking you youngsters instead." the old man replied. "Thanks to you mages, I can now spend more time with my wife waiting for Christmas."

"You take care now," Nerys placed a warm leather coat on the old man's back, carefully helping him down the stairs onto the street.

"I will, "the old man had a warm smile on his face as he waved at the Scarlet Nova mages. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" the trio chorused in reply, watching as the old man's figure gradually fading away in the snow.

"Now it's our turn to get to work," Blitz grinned as he stared at the huge sack of mail and presents beside him. Next to Nerys and Zephyr were equally large sacks, filled to the brim with various goods and toys as well.

Due to the cold weather, there had been a delay in the mail service to Valgore. Mails that were supposed to reach before Christmas had all strangely arrived at the same time at the post office. Given that the post office was run by the old man alone, it would take forever to sort out everything and delivering them to their respective homes. Christmas would have been long over by then. Luckily for him, the Scarlet Nova mages were there to help, and to top that off, they all specialized in speed.

"We have about an hour or so to deliver all these, so it's best if we hurry." Nerys reminded as she stared at Valgore's clock tower. The time currently read 10.30 pm, leaving less than 2 hours for them to get their job done AND be back in time for their own Christmas dinner.

"We might as well have some fun while we're at it, seeing how it is the festive season and all." quipped Zephyr, causing both Blitz and Nerys to stare at him in curiosity.

"I was thinking that the last person to finish delivering all the mail and presents will have to buy the other two a present of their choice. This way we'll be motivated to work even faster and it fits just nicely with the Christmas theme as well." Zephyr continued, receiving approving nods from the other two Scarlet Nova mages.

"Sounds good to me." Agreed Blitz

"I'm all game if you guys are." Nerys nodded.

"Meet back at the guild's gates." Zephyr reminded as each mage took a ready stance. At the chime of the bell, all of them vanished instantly, leaving only tuffs of smoke in their paths.

Zephyr zipped thru and flow across the streets, leaving only a blur of blue light in his path, courtesy of his electric blue sweater and pants. As the person who initiated the challenge, Zephyr most certainly did not want to be the one losing it. Hence he decided to take the most efficient way of doing things.

To each household he visited, he simply left the present and mail at the doorstep and rang the doorbell. As most families were waiting for Christmas to arrive, the houses were lit up and filled with people, leaving Zephyr with no worries that the presents would get stolen. The second he rang the doorbell, Zephyr took off immediately moving on to the next house. He never did managed to get a chance to see the joyous expressions of his recipients or the grateful tears that rolled down their eyes when they finally managed to get their precious mail and gifts from or for their loved ones.

Nerys was a bit more courteous on the other hand. She chose to teleport within the houses themselves. There she would walk around and find someone to pass the gift or mail to before she left. While receiving or giving thanks, she did not hesitate to give her comments about the architecture of the place, offering sound advice on how to redecorate and stuff before vanishing to the next building.

Blitz was more traditional compared to the other two. Despite his age, he still believed in the tale of Santa Claus, something enforced onto him by his teacher a long time ago. As such he teleported to each of his recipients' houses chimneys, depositing the mail and presents down them. Unfortunately for him, his method had a few minor flaws. For one, some of the presents were way too thick or bulky to fit down the chimney. For another, not all the recipient houses had chimneys. Luckily for him, he had a solution to both problems. He simply left the presents by the bedroom windows, leaving small post-its on the gifts saying "Santa was here" in hopes of keeping the tradition alive. Despite knowing that this would cause him precious time, he still found it necessary.

And so for the next hour, the streets were filled with streaks of fading blue lights and the zipping noises of teleportation. Most of the residents of Valgore were in the festive mood already, oblivious to the hard work that the mages were carrying out. Not that any of the trio minded. They were all just glad to put a smile on everyone's face before the festive day approached.

At 11.30pm sharp, Zephyr arrived first in front of the guild house, panting slightly. That certainly did a number on his magic but it was definitely worth it. Following that was Nerys, who seemed slightly less exhausted and was carrying a plate of cookies and milk in her hands, courtesy of one of her recipient families. Lastly, Blitz arrived a full minute later, his face caked in soot when he tried to fish out a stuck present.

"Well, it seems like someone owes us a present," Nerys grinned, fist-bumping Zephyr.

"I'll honor my end of the deal alright. Go ahead and decide what you guys want." Blitz shrugged, earning squeals of laughter and joy from the two younger mages. He had money to spare anyways. Besides, it wouldn't harm giving gifts to his guild mates.

That's what the festive spirit was all about.

 **Scarlet Nova Guild House, 11.45pm**

Glaive smiled as he saw Zephyr and company enter the guild doors. With them accounted for, everyone was finally back. All members of the guild had kept their promise and were now seated at the sides of the stone table. Before their eyes was a scrumptious feast, personally prepared with an extra dose of sweat and effort by Zion, Vali and Liliana. There was roast turkey with rosemary, black pepper beef, pumpkin pie, coconut ice cream and chocolate Christmas pudding, all accompanied by a fresh glass of lemonade infused vodka drink that was specially chosen from Glaive's personal collection. Watching all the amazed looks on their guild mates faces boosted the trio's pride and moral by a large extent.

"Food, food, food…" drooled Vento, his hunger getting the better of him already. Seras had lost count of how many times she had to close his mouth already to prevent his saliva from falling all over the food.

Well he wasn't alone in that aspect. All across the table sounds of grumbling tummies echoed in the guild hall. Evidently everyone was aching to dig in to the delicious spread of food laid before them.

"Master," Cora asked as she rubbed her grumbling tummy, "are we starting soon?"

"Patience my dear," Glaive replied with a smile, "they're almost here."

"They?" questioned Scar. She was pretty sure that all the guild members were back by now.

"Oh! The special guests that Master was talking about!" squealed Tsukiko, having suddenly recalled what he said earlier that morning.

At that exact moment, there was knock on the guild's doors, causing all heads to turn in that general direction.

"Well, speak of the devil." Grinned Klein. It was anyone's guess who the guests were now.

And they were all pretty surprised when they saw who walked through the door.

"Sorry we are late," Vale gave a small smile as he took off his winter coat. "It took us a while to travel without being detected by the council."

"Vale!" Aiden exclaimed in excitement as he got off his chair to greet the ex-Orochi member. "It's great to see you again!"

"You too, Aiden." Vale replied. The two of them had gotten pretty close since the incident at Morgoth despite being former enemies and they were glad to be in each other's company once again.

Behind Vale, the other members of Sombra Estrella removed their cloaks, earning even more squeals and shouts of excitement from the Scarlet Nova mages.

"OLIN!" squealed Zion as he tackled his younger brother in a ferocious hug.

"Can't breathe you idiot!" Olin wheezed with whatever air he had left in his lungs, before resorting to punching Zion in the jaw to have him released from his chokehold of a hug.

"It's hard to imagine that Olin's the younger one when his older brother acts like a doofus." Aly remarked, earning nods of approval from both Shinji and Blitz.

"Big Brother!" Rin squealed as she ran up to Ryuga, embracing him.

"Welcome back Rin," Ryuga replied warmly as he snuggled the younger mage he now called his sister. He then allowed her to sit on his lap, stroking her hair as he did so. It had been way too long since they last met and he sure was glad that he could see her again.

"ZEPHYR!" chimed Mara and Zora as they both tackled the speed mage. During the short span of time they had spent together after their battles, they had also become very close friends.

"Hi ladies, it's nice to see yall again," Zephyr chuckled as a deep red blush crept onto his cheeks from all the physical contact. He had to get used to that someday.

"Yo Drake," Yami greeted the Shadow Dragon Slayer who was at the end of the group. "its good to see you again."

"Hi Yami, sorry for intruding as usual." Drake mumbled softly, twiddling his thumbs. He wasn't used to attending events with so many people around, making him even more shy than usual.

"Man you have to loosen up," Yami grinned as he put an arm around Drake. "I will have to teach you how to get over your shyness one of these days."

"Thanks Yami," Drake blushed, happy that he still had friend that cared for him.

With that, all the seats were completely filled, making the guild house all the livelier.

At the strike of 12am, Glaive stood up, holding out his glass as he prepared a toast. All the rest seated at the table instantly quietened down and followed his example, each holding their glass as they waited for the signal.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone cheered, marking the start of the Christmas Day and the beginning of a new year.

And so the curtain falls on the first act, bringing about new beginnings as the second chapter prepares to write itself.

 **A/N:** _And that's a wrap for this chapter! Hope you guys have enjoyed this short Christmas special XD_

 _The new characters introduced at the end will be introduced as the story progresses so don't worry about it. For those interested, you guys can google the name of Vale's guild. Its meaning is tied closely to Scarlet Nova. Have fun figuring it out hahaha_

 _Lastly, I hope this makes a nice Christmas present from me to you guys! So I wish all you readers out there, a very Merry and Jolly Christmas and a very very happy New Year_

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	13. The First Victims

**A/N:** _Hi Guys! I'm finally back from my long holiday. You know what that means XD. Updates will now resume as per normal, aka once every 1 or 2 weeks. Please pardon me because it's my final year at college and I will have to juggle between writing and school, so please forgive me if I don't update on time._

 _Now for some plot updates. The next two chapters will cover the last of Ryuga's team's mission before moving on to Aiden's, and that will be approximately 6-7 chapters also. In the mean time, there will be some recollections on Glaive's end as well as some sparring and fluff between guild mates. I hope you're as excited as me._

 _Oh and thousands of apologies. I noticed a small typo when I was writing the Christmas Special. You guys still remember Drake? And how I introduced him as the Shadow Dragon Slayer? It was supposed to be Shadow Dragon instead. My bad if I got any of you confused._

 _Love for all my reviewers and I hope yall enjoyed my Christmas special. Reviewer credits will continue as per normal next chapter onwards as its a bit messy now haha._

 _Please refer to Chapter 1 for disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Scarlet Nova Guild House, Glaive's office**

" _What in Earthland is that!?"_

" _None of you will leave here alive!"_

" _Screw the mission, let's run while we can!"_

" _DAMN FILTH! RETURN TO THE UNDERWORLD!"_

" _I'm so sorry…"_

" _You didn't deserve this,"_

" _Tell Seras I'm sorry."_

" _Live for me, Glaive…"_

Glaive instantly woke from his sleep with a gasp, eyes casting about frantically as he suppressed the urge to release the ethereal chains on his glove. He was still in his office, having fallen asleep while reviewing some past documents. Breathing heavily, he laid back into his chair, wiping his forehead and coming away with sweat.

"A dream," he wondered aloud, as he calmed himself while he remembered where he was.

"No…memories…"

It was just like it happened yesterday but he knew very well that the event he remembered was over 20 years ago. It was an event that he considered his biggest failure, right up there with failing to save the woman he loved.

No amount of power could have prepared himself or his team for what they faced that day. It was an unworldly force that held no equal, having slaughtered all those that came before them. With great difficulty, they finally managed to destroy their opponent and seal his weapon.

But it came at a great cost.

Of the five of them, two of them never returned from the mission. While the remaining three were hailed as heroes and given ranks amidst the Wizard Saints, it was not anything worth celebrating. One of them quit and retired as a mage almost immediately the next day, unable to take the guilt and pressure. The remaining two kept their posts, only at the insistence of the Magic Council and the promise they made to their team mates before they passed on.

One was now the Master of Fairy Tail.

The other was himself.

Glaive sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands. It's all over. There was no way he was ever coming back. He made sure personally to destroy every proof of its existence, living absolutely no means for him to revive.

And yet he still had the sick feeling in his gut that not everything was over just yet. Black Citadel and Kaguro. These two figures were totally either unknown or heard of till now. So why start a war with a legally established guild and a new one nonetheless. There had to be a link somewhere that he just was not seeing, but what it was Glaive still had no idea.

"Father," a voice interrupted his train of thoughts. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes dear, I'm fine. Just a nightmare." Glaive addressed Seras. She had been so quiet in the room throughout that Glaive barely registered her presence.

"You work too hard," Seras smiled as she patted Glaive on his back. "Let me go make you a nice cup of tea to help you relax."

Glaive nodded in acknowledgement, watching with sadness in his eyes as he saw Seras walk out of the office. He had yet to tell her about what happened to her mother all those years ago. Although she was all grown up, Glaive still found it hard to break it to her. He knew very well that she wasn't all that strong as she looked, fearing that she would crumble when he told her the truth behind her mother.

"Oh yeah Father," Seras quipped as she suddenly turned around. Glaive instantly banished the forlorn look in his eyes and listened intently. "The magic council has requested a meeting for all Guild Masters in Ea."

"I understand," Glaive replied swiftly as he immediately got out of his chair and began to pack his belongings. It was about time those ass-hats in the council sought the help of others. All the guilds needed to work together if they were going to stop Black Citadel. No one would be safe unless they were completely eradicated.

"Seras, you will be temporary head for the guild until I return." Glaive instructed, causing Seras to nod her head. "See to it that the S-classes get their map pieces on time."

"I'll do my best, I guess." Seras shrugged. She wasn't S-class nor as strong as the rest of the guild but she would definitely do her best to live up to her father's expectations. Just as Glaive was about to leave, he suddenly paused, addressing Seras once more.

"And help me book a ticket to Clover Town. I need to speak with some old friends of mine."

 **North of Valgore, passage way to Morgoth**

"Are we there yet?" Judar asked for the hundredth time, a bored expression on his face as he yawned aloud.

"Not yet. Be patient and stay quiet." Hissed Asuna as she left another marking on the tunnel wall next to her.

"But we have been walking for ages," Judar sighed. "Are you sure we are going the right way?"

"Have a little faith Judar," Blitz replied though he was thinking the same thing as well. His team had entered the tunnels close to an hour ago as indicated by the map but so far they had not seen anything yet. No Black Citadel, no nothing. It really got him thinking if they were on the right track after all. By now they should have at least seen a marking or something.

"Well, I don't really mind," quipped Gemma. She enjoyed walking about in the cave. It was dark, cold and damp which suited her just fine. She would take this any day compared to the humid weather of Valgore.

"How are things looking Aiden?" Hanaku asked as she held her halberd closer to the S-class mage. Due to the tunnels stretching deep into the earth, there was practically no light at all. As such, Hanaku took the liberty of igniting one of her halberds to act as a light source. Though the fire wasn't really big due to her still being injured and conserving her energy, it still provide enough warmth and comfort for the rest of her team.

"Well, the map says we have to take another left here and we should be there." Aiden shrugged as he pointed in the general direction that they were supposed to go.

"ALRIGHT!" Judar hollered as he sped way ahead of his team, all pumped up and ready to go. He took off at breakneck speeds away from the group and made a left turn just as Aiden mentioned, only to find something strange.

He was no longer standing on solid ground and below him was nothing but a yawning pit of darkness.

"SHIT!" he screeched as he tried desperately to run back into the cave but he was way too far from the entrance already. That was until Floral swooped down and grabbed him by the collar, saving his ass just in time.

"Whew, thanks partner." Judar heaved a sigh of relief while Floral sighed at her partner's recklessness.

"That'll teach you to run off on your own," Asuna chided the Sand Dragon Slayer who smiled sheepishly as he landed to safety.

"But still, this is one ominous cave," commented Gemma. Even with their light, the entire place was still pitch dark. While Gemma could see better in the dark than the rest of her team, she could not make out any discerning features of the opening at all. It meant two things. Either there was really nothing there or the place was so big that she could not even see the end of it. And then there was that weird smell she had been smelling. It was like someone poured a ton of rotten eggs all over the opening, causing her to be unable to identify where the stench was coming from.

"Looks like we'll need a bigger light," Blitz remarked, receiving a nod from Hanaku. He immediately fished for a flash lacrima within his backpack, only for Aiden to hold a hand before him, signaling him to stop.

"Maybe we don't need any light at all," Aiden wondered out loud, earning him looks of curiosity and surprise from him team. "Hanaku, deactivate your magic."

"You sure about this?" Hanaku asked the doubt present in her voice. She felt more at ease with the light on and the rest of her team shared her sentiments. Being unable to see would be a major disadvantage if they ever ran into trouble.

"Trust me," Aiden gave a reassuring grin, causing Hanaku to relax slightly. She shrugged and despite the pleading looks from Judar, Flora and Asuna, she extinguished the fire surrounding her halberd.

Instantly, the empty space beneath them lit up with an eerie green hue, bathing the entire cavern with its light. Within seconds, the whole place was glowing green, providing the team with a clear view of the cavern. The place was massive to say at the least, easily stretching a few kilometers in diameter alone. The ceiling was so far up that all the light that was being released from beneath them was not enough to reach its peak, hitting only the halfway mark. Below them was an enormous green lagoon, large enough to fit a soccer field and then some. All around them there were no supporting rocks or platforms, indicating that there was only one way in and out of the place, which was where they came from.

"This is pretty," Gemma said as she observed her surroundings. It reminded her of the auroras she always read about it in story books. While this was not the real thing, it might as well have been.

Judar and Flora were also taking in the sight well, their eyes sparkling and mouths agape at the pretty view. Hanaku and Asuna were also seemingly enjoying themselves, small smiles etched on their faces as they observed the overlapping waves of light. On the other hand however, Blitz had a frown on his head.

"What's wrong Blitz," Asuna asked, noticing her teammate's furrowed brows.

"The map says that the artifact is right in the cavern but from what I can see, there is no sign of it here. If my guess is correct, the artifact is probably located within the lagoon beneath us." Blitz explained as he crossed his arms, gazing into the deep green "waters".

"What's wrong with that?" Gemma asked, her head tilting to a side in confusion. "Can't we just swim to get there?" As soon as those words left her mouth, Judar immediately started stripping, eager to jump headfirst into the lagoon.

"The problem is this," Aiden added, reaching into his pocket to remove a small stone. With a small toss, he hurled the stone into the lagoon. What happened next caught everyone off by surprise.

Instead of sinking into the water like everyone thought it would, the stone instantly vaporized upon contacting with the lagoon, dissipating into a jet of white mist.

"Holy crap." Judar swallowed hard. He could have ended up just like that if he wasn't careful. The supposed paradise he was looking at was actually a straight ticket to hell. Thank God he bothered listening to the rest of the explanation. "That ain't no water. That's bloody acid."

"Exactly," Blitz replied. "That's our main problem. If the artifact is below that, there is no way we can go retrieve it. We'll turn into bones before we can even reach it."

"Well there has to be a way to get there, isn't it?" Asuna retorted. "They placed the damn thing inside in the first place so there has to be a way to bypass the acid."

"Didn't Master Glaive say that there was a gate keeper here?" Hanaku asked. "Maybe we should ask him for directions."

"How can there be anyone living in here. It a pool of acid down there. Nothing can survive that." Gemma countered, earning a glare from Hanaku. She was dead sure that nothing could possibly be living beneath them.

Boy was she wrong.

At that very instant, the pool of acid began to bubble furiously. With each passing second, the cavern wall also began to shake violently, causing stalagmites to rain from the ceiling.

"Something's coming!" Aiden growled, feeling an immense presence beneath them. All around him, his team assumed battle stances, waiting for whatever was rising from beneath the pool of acid.

Flora, being curious, crept slowly to the ledge of the platform and gazed at the pool of acid. From there she saw a shadow that was slowly increasing in size, growing so big that it almost covered the entire lagoon. Her eyes instantly widened in fear, scrambling backwards to safety behind Judar.

With that, an enormous explosion resounded as something emerged from the water's surface and when Aiden's team saw it, they could honestly say that they were frightened. It was an enormous Deep Sea Hydra, so huge and thick that it almost filled up the entire cavern. It was so long that it even had to bend its head to avoid brushing the tip of the ceiling. It had two sets of crimson eyes with scarlet like irises and deep blue body lined with armored scales. A red and green sailed could be seen emerging from the back of its head, stretching down all the way from his spine. What scared the mages though were the bloodstained teeth that lined the beast's mouth, each sharp as diamond and as tall as each of them.

"Holy mother of Jesus," Aiden swore as the lined its face against the platform, watching the mages intently. Sure he had taken care of huge monsters and beasts before but this thing was on another level altogether. For one, it was armed to the teeth and extra fricking enormous. For another, he could sense a strong amount of mana radiating from within in, indicating that the beast was most likely capable of using magic. That was something new and Aiden did not want to find out what happened if he pissed it off.

A moment of deadly silence passed as both parties gazed at each other. For the mages, it was out of fright and being too afraid to move a muscle while for the Hydra, it was more of interest and curiosity.

So imagine their shock when they heard the Hydra speak.

"I am the Gate Keeper of Morgoth. My name is Aggra. What is your business here." the Hydra demanded telepathically.

"IT SPEAKS!" Gemma and Judar freaked simultaneously.

"Calm down, it's just talking to us through our heads." Blitz reminded as bravely as he could. A talking Hydra did not mean anything. If it did, it only meant that it was all the more dangerous.

"We are mages from Scarlet Nova. We wish to pass to Morgoth because we have to collect an artifact located down there." Aiden answered to the point, not wanting to risk angering the Hydra.

"And the toll?" the beast growled through their heads, causing all mages to quiver ever so slightly.

"You mean this?" Judar whimpered softly as he fished out the gold medallion from his pocket. The Hydra instinctively inched closer to take a closer look while Judar backed off as far as he could, closing his eyes tightly in fear that it might just eat him.

"Tch! That will do." The Hydra scowled as it backed off. "That man is always so stingy." It added, snorting in displeasure at the miserable amount of gold presented.

"Wait, you know Master Glaive?" Asuna questioned, her eyes widening in surprise but she never got time to answer her question.

In an instant, the Hydra plunged downwards, swooping all the Scarlet Nova Mages into its mouth. With that, it dived back into the lagoon of acid, leaving behind no evidence that the Scarlet Nova mages ever entered the cavern.

 **With Zephyr**

"Hold still, I just wanna cut you up," Athena pleaded though the devious smile on her face said otherwise. With a wave of her hand she shot forth another wave of roots at Zephyr from all directions, hoping that at least one would impale him.

"No thanks," Zephyr growled as he zipped in between the fauna, barely evading them. "I would rather stay in one piece." Despite carrying both of team mates, he was still faster than the average mage, no doubt thanks to his Speed magic. However given his wounds, it was obvious that they were burdening him to a large extent.

"Too bad, we have to disagree. You could have made a nice play toy," Athena licked her lips as she surveyed Zephyr's body, her imagination running wild as she imagined how the boy would look like full of holes. It would have been so much fun. If only he could stand still for a second.

Beside her, Rin just rolled her eyes while she let loose another shot with her rifle, the wire bullet impacting just slightly off to Zephyr's left. She was not used to fighting in the open, preferring to strike from the shadows instead. Now that her cover was blown, she had lost the element of surprise, making it more difficult to make her shots connect. What's worse was that day was breaking, the sun's rays making it hard for her to focus her eyes.

Despite being able to see his opponents, Zephyr still found it tough to avoid their attacks. While they weren't all that powerful, they were pretty fast and he couldn't afford himself to get hit by any of them. Particularly Rin's bullets. He had seen what they could do to Vali and he wasn't going let himself suffer the same fate.

"Razor Leaf Storm!" Athena cackled as she unleashed a storm of leaves, each of them sharp as blades towards Zephyr. The leaf blades shredded at the ground around Zephyr, like bullets tearing through flesh, surprising the Speed mage at how sharp they were. Zephyr leapt from side to side, bending his head every now and then to avoid getting slashed by the nature projectiles. Unfortunately for him, the further he ran, the more surrounded he was. Very soon he found himself in a column of leaf blades, unable to move anywhere.

"Shit!" Zephyr cursed as he watched the blades enclose, being able to do anything at this point in time.

"It's over, running boy," Athena laughed as she snapped her fingers, signaling the storm of leaves to attack.

"Sorry guys," Zephyr muttered silently as he dropped both Vali and Liliana onto the ground. He had to do something or they'll all be toast. In the next moment, he knelt down on one knee, a silver magic circle forming beneath him. "Acceleration mode activate: Adamant Barrage." He whispered as a wispy silver aura enveloped his entire body.

For a moment he stood still.

In the next he moved.

Or to be more precise, in less than a moment. Within that single second it took Athena and Rin to blink, Zephyr had already made his move over a thousand times. Kicking, punching, twisting, Zephyr struck out at every single leaf that was surrounding him, making him practically a silver blur before the eyes of others.

From Athena's point of view, he was standing still, surrounded by her leaf blades in a second. In the next, her leaves were all instantly scattered.

"What the hell," she snarled; unable to comprehend what just happened before her eyes. Before she could make sense of anything, Zephyr vanished again, trailing a silver streak behind him. This time he reappeared right in front of her, fist cocked back.

"Eat this!" he roared, plummeting his fist into her cheek, sending the Nature Mage into the ground. By the time he was done with that, he was breathing rather raggedly. He really hated using Acceleration Mode, even when up against a strong enemy. While it granted him the speed of sound, it also took a massive toll on his body. He had only a minute to use the spell before his body collapsed on itself.

"Well, a minute's all I need." Zephyr grinned, vanishing again to avoid a close range shot by Rin. The girl's eyes widened as she watched Zephyr disappear. She instantly glanced around her, trying to spot any traces of him. Even with her superior eyesight, she was finding it difficult to track him.

"There!" she exclaimed, having caught a slight trace of his silver streaks. By then it was all too late. Zephyr was on her like white on rice, coming up from right beside her. His leg was poised and ready to strike, and Rin barely caught sight of it before Zephyr called out his spell.

"Axial Crash!" He delivered his axial kick to Rin's midsection, sending the younger mage flying.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Rin screamed in pain as she tumbled across the top of the giant tree. She eventually struck the side of the barrier hard, stopping her momentum but causing a major concussion to the side of head as well. While Zephyr's attacks were not the top of its class, getting hit by something at the speed of sound was no joking matter. That attack easily tore through the wire armor she was wearing underneath, shattering her rib in the process.

"Neo…" she whimpered before darkness enveloped her, her body unable to take the brunt of the attack.

"That's one down," Zephyr hissed as he glared at Rin's motionless body. While he would never admit it, he actual felt pretty darn good landing that strike. He did not bother holding back on that strike, anger fueling him from what she did to Vali. Using him as a puppet to hurt his friends, that was despicable and girl or not, she was going to pay for what she did.

"ENT!" Athena roared as unleashed another concentrated stream of magic roots at Zephyr's back, hoping to catch the mage by surprise. Instead, Zephyr simply moved out of the way, the roots crashing and embedding themselves in the ground instead.

"You're next!' he hissed as he appeared behind her, raising his leg in a drop kick. This time Athena was ready though, a golden and green magic circle already at her feet by the time she sensed Zephyr's appearance.

"Burial Drop!"

"Forest Wall!"

Zephyr winced as he felt his heel impact the dense wooden shield that shot out from behind Athena, guarding her from the near fatal blow. Smaller magic circles appeared on the wood itself, launching wooden stakes outwards at Zephyr. The speed mage instantly backpedalled, just in time to avoid them nicking his flesh.

"Damn, it's tough!" Zephyr growled as he nursed his throbbing heel. Even with the extra speed boost, he still did not have enough momentum to shatter her defenses. That coupled with her enhanced magic from the holy mana was going to be a major problem. She could keep this up for however long she wants but he was running on fumes already. He could not afford to get caught or his game would be up in an instant.

"I'm a member of Orochi for a reason, you know?" Athena snarled as she stood back up, the bruise on her cheek clearly visible to all. "DON"T YOU GO UNDERESTIMATING ME!" With that, she trusted both hands forward, launching yet another storm of leaf blades at Zephyr.

Zephyr was like a silver dancer, the silver streaks lining his body swaying as he darted in and out of the leaf storm. His face was a determined line, grimacing ever so slightly whenever a cut appeared across his body. Yet he always returned to the fray, refusing to let his opponent's superior strength or numbers overwhelm him. As long as his enhancement held, he was good to go.

On the other hand, Athena was more like a posing idol, her hands flowing freely as she commanded her nature legion against her enemy. While her leaf blades did not have the speed, their superior numbers gave her the advantage to enclose him. Slowly but surely, she was hurting him, though she knew it wasn't enough to slow him down.

The silver streaks along Zephyr's body were gradually disappearing, indicating that his time was almost up. Meanwhile, Athena's leaves were starting to get disarrayed or pulverized, courtesy of Zephyr's blows.

They both knew that the next move would determine the fate of the fight.

Without a word, both mages finalized their preparations for their strongest spells, eager to crush their foe before they had the time to make a move.

As though standing on air, Zephyr bent into his iconic hunter's crouch. A trail of red magic circles were scattered in front of him but slowly they were all beginning to align in a straight line, leading up to Athena. His body was shaking uncontrollably, feeling the adrenaline rush as his magic went into overdrive, pumping furiously in his blood and veins. Any normal person would have ruptured by now but Zephyr's magic made his body a good accommodator for it though it was limited to only a single shot.

His last chance at beating Athena.

Athena had also finished her preparation. From her back, several roots extended out and dug deep into the giant tree. They allowed her to tap the tree's holy mana directly, granting her even greater access to its powers. As a result her entire body and eyes were now glowing golden. However the influx of mana proved to be too great for her, causing blood to seep out of her mouth and eyes. Even so, she was laughing maniacally, enjoying the surge of power. She had never felt so good in her entire life and she was just itching to test her new found strength out.

"I guess I could thank the boy," she grinned to herself. "I can finally go all out and have no regrets about it."

Both mages held their breaths for a moment, before calling out the names of their greatest spells.

"BLAZE COMET!" Zephyr roared as he leapt off, shooting through the chain of magic circles. With each circle passed, his body went even faster, the extreme friction resulting in his body igniting as a result. From afar, he resembled a falling meteor, thus the name of his spell.

"GARDENS OF BABYLON!" Athena responded as a gigantic golden magic circle appeared before her. Before both their eyes, an entire forest sprouted at extremes speeds, rushing towards Zephyr. This was the same technique that she used to create the forest labyrinth, only now that it was much larger since Athena absorbed the mana directly.

Fiery fist clashed with golden fauna, unleashing waves of energy which exploded all around them. Both mages had determined looks on their faces as neither of them refuse to back down. This lasted for a moment or so, but by the end of it, it was clear who was buckling under the pressure.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Athena howled. Very slowly, Zephyr was tearing through the enhanced trees, his enhanced speed proving to be superior of the two. The forests were now nothing more than walls in his path and with each passing circle, he was tearing through them faster than they could regenerate.

But he knew that he probably wasn't going to make it. He only had seconds to spare before his magic would be depleted completely and he was not going fast enough. He had to end this now.

"COME ON!" Zephyr cried out as he forced out even more of his magic. His body started to turn very red, barely holding up any further but it did the trick. He was now impaling through the last of Athena's wooden barriers and very soon he came face to face with the Nature Manipulation mage.

"TAKE THIS!" he stretched out his fist, launching a powerful straight punch at Athena, attempting to finish her off. Athena gasped in horror, her eyes widening as she anticipated the fatal blow nearing her head.

But it never came.

"Damn it," Zephyr cursed as he felt his entire body go limp. His magic had finally run out, and at the worse possible timing also. He was so close to defeating her but yet so far from reaching his goal. Swearing silently, his body hit the ground completely devoid of any strength, unable to move an inch.

"Haha…Haha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Athena laughed uncontrollably as she stared at the helpless mage before her. She couldn't believe her luck. The tables were now turned in her favor. Even so, she knew that her body was also barely holding up. The sensory output was way too extreme for her and she was having trouble even trying to stand straight.

But she was still able to move and that was a win in her books already.

"Sweet Dreams…" she cackled uncontrollably as she waved her hand, a vine appearing by her side as she prepared to end Zephyr's life.

"Chrome Guardna." A voice uttered from below them.

"What?" Athena hissed as she instantly found her arms and legs bound in metallic walls, restricting her movement except for her wrists. There's no way that they could still be standing!

Zephyr heaved a sigh of relief when he recognized the magic. He though he was surely a goner. "What took you guys so long?" he chuckled weakly.

Below them, Liliana was panting slightly as she knelt on one foot, an arm raised with a white magic circle appearing in front of it. He was lucky that she managed to find enough strength to activate her magic. Given her wounds, the spell was not going to last much longer. Athena needed to fall now.

"Surrender," Vali echoed emotionless as he appeared from a black portal above Athena. Zephyr was having trouble viewing the Celestial Spirit mage but he was pretty sure Vali didn't look like that when he last left him. Vali was now dressed in a frayed black cloak, shrouding his entire body from view. Where his face was now held a silver skull mask that had red glowing eyes and his arms were now covered in jaded silver gauntlets. The same silver timer was strapped to his chest and despite the iconic symbol, that did not catch Zephyr's attention. What did was the enormous black and red scythe in Vali's hands, the blade of which resting against Athena's neck.

"Move and I will kill you," Vali growled lowly. He was not going to take any chances with his team mate's life, especially after what he did to him earlier.

Most mages would gladly retreat or back off in the face of such a prominent threat, eager to keep their lives and fight another day. Athena, on the other hand, was an exception to that rule.

"Surrender?" she cackled coldly. "A member of Orochi never surrenders. If I have to die, so be it!" She then slowly turned her attention to Zephyr, completely forgetting that there was a blade pressed against her jugular. "But if I'm gonna go, I WILL TAKE ONE OF YOU WITH ME!" she roared, her hand twitching ever so slightly as she motioned the root to strike.

"Don't do it!" Liliana yelled, the fear visible in her voice.

Vali on the other hand took the easier way out.

"Sorry," he uttered. Before Athena could make any sudden movement, he retracted the scythe, slashing her cleanly at the throat.

Athena wheezed and gurgled, the blood frothing out of her mouth and pouring from the fatal wound. She gasped for air desperately, choking on her own blood in the process. Sensing that she did not have much longer to live, Liliana released her magic, causing the Orochi member to fall to the ground.

Even in the face of death, Athena showed neither respite nor regret. Her face was still carved with a maniacal smile, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as she gazed at the Scarlet Nova mages.

"Heheh you Scarlet pansies," she gurgled, making out her last words with whatever strength she had left. "It doesn't matter if you kill me here because my way of life, my will never dies! It may take a day or a month, a year, hell a decade even but just know this! You can a kill person but you can never kill darkness or the evil in a person's heart. Someone will take my place and finish what I've started! So enjoy while you can, because Orochi will claim every last one of you!"

With that, she stopped struggling altogether, her body going limp. The fire in her eyes faded away, leaving nothing but a glazed expression as she stared into the sky.

Athena was finally dead, being the first of eight to fall in the war of the guilds.

 **With Ryuga and Neo**

Being in the line of work known as a mage, it is often common sense that one needed to be equipped with the most basic of fighting skills. While most mages relied heavily on their magic and excelled at them, there were the small few who focused on toughen their bodies and minds, putting their effort into becoming physically strong enough to take an opponent barehanded if they had to. Then there were those who excelled at both, being masters of both hand to hand combat and their spells. These were the ones who usually ascended to S-class.

But the battle that was currently unfolding in the barren ground would just prove that they only had a long way to go.

The scarlet form of Neo roared wordlessly, a sick grin plastered on his face as he fought his opponent. His style was simple and head-on, striking powerfully and directly, Balrog swinging almost effortlessly as he brought both hands to bear. While he wasn't as fast as his opponent, staggering slightly under the barely blocked blows but he was just as powerful, staggering and forcing his foe back every now and then. Occasionally he would release a hand on his zweihandler, forming a claw of blood on the free limb in an attempt to catch his opponent by surprise. However no matter what form the blood took, it always left nothing more than mere scratches on his target's armor. With the minimal damage inflicted, his foe had long ignored his petty tricks, concentrating his full attention of guarding against the sword strikes.

Opposing Neo was the ominous black form of Ryuga, his body occasionally ignited by streaks of black lightning. While his brother was excited till the point of tripping himself, Ryuga felt no such feeling, his face plastered into an emotionless look. He moved like lightning, vanishing in bursts of static and reappearing where Neo least expected it. The jaws on his arms pulsated with lightning, unleashing controlled bursts each time he attacked. But by some dumb luck or probably Neo's skill with Balrog, he managed to deflect or evade the strikes each time, resulting in black streaks flashing across the sky or scorching the earth. Balrog scraped off his armor with a shower of sparks and despite any major damage, Ryuga knew all too well that it was dangerous to let that continue any further. Only a demonic weapon could hurt or destroy another, making it risky to take unnecessary hits.

With that thought in mind, Ryuga ducked beneath a sword strike from Neo. Wordlessly, he plowed his fist into Neo's gut, firing off a lightning infused punch. The result was Neo being sent flying, tumbling end over end in the dirt.

"Damn he hits like a truck," Neo grimaced, his body emitting sparks from the lightning strike. He placed his hand against his stomach, feeling the crystallized blood falling apart. That attack would have probably tore through him if not for his Blood Mist, so he felt rather lucky to be just aching only.

In the mean time, Yura had crept up against Ryuga. Silently she brought her sword down against his back, the blade glowing gold as her Explosion magic initiated. However when the blade did struck, no explosion took place. Instead her katana shattered into fragments, unable to withstand the density of Ryuga's armor. As if refusing to believe what had just happened, Yura stared dead at what's left of her weapon, unable to do anything as Ryuga turned around slowly.

In a swift motion, a jagged crimson blade fell out of Ryuga's right claw. Wordlessly, he stabbed it right through Yura, impaling his former lover. Ryuga watched as blood oozed from the wound, trickles of it leaving her eyes and mouth. While it pained him to kill her again, he knew it was necessary. Her soul was no longer there, and so her body should be put to rest as well.

"Return to the earth," Ryuga whispered as he watched Yura's body start to fragment and disappear. As her body vanished, Yura's face seemingly began to smile, as though thanking Ryuga for what he was doing. Ryuga watched with a forlorn look as Yura vanished completely, the last of her essence disappearing into the clear sky.

"Keep your eyes on me Brother!" Neo hissed as he leapt into the air. Blood spewed from his forearms, crystallizing and extending to form two elongated fangs. As he crossed his arms, the blades seemed to interlock, their tips curving over Ryuga's neck, giving the impression of a pair of giant bloody scissors.

"Blood Make: Carnage Scissors!" Neo roared as he swiped both his arms, attempting to decapitate Ryuga. Ryuga barely even took notice of the attack, simply raising his left arm as he guarded against it.

"Tch!" Neo snarled as he flexed his arm muscles, forcing out more blood in an attempt to strengthen the spell. However no matter how he tried, the twin blades did not budge against Ryuga.

"Futile," Ryuga muttered as he batted the blood blades away, causing them to shatter on impact. Neo's eyes widened in shock as he watched his spell crumble and dissipate. Through the fragments of blood, he briefly saw Ryuga vanish from his position. In a split second he was right in front of him, his right arm blade raised.

Before Neo could force out another Blood Shield, Ryuga brought his weapon down, slashing across Neo's chest with a lightning reinforced strike. Neo howled in pain as he felt the attacks cut deep, spraying a fountain of blood against Ryuga armor. Despite the injury, Neo still found the strength to back off, his limbs sliding against the ground as he attempted to put some distance between them.

"Damn!" he cursed as he placed his hand against the bloody gash. Where Ryuga had struck, black veins had started to creep all over it, corroding the flesh and bone. Under normal conditions, Neo would have easily dismissed the wound but there was something this time that made him very weary and afraid.

"The wound, it's not healing!" Neo ranted in his mind. By now he would have felt his regenerative powers kick in already. Although they were not completely gone, they were far slower than usual.

Before he could think any further, Ryuga was on to him already, his blade trusting out as he rushed forward. Neo barely had enough time to raise Balrog, placing it in between him and Ryuga to guard against the thrust. Even so he still found himself being pushed backwards, his heels dragging against the sand as he failed to withstand Ryuga's strike. Just as he was about to recover, he caught sight of a dark ball of energy being charged in the claw, straining to be released.

Without warning, a pillar of black lightning erupted from the sword, striking Neo at point blank. Not even Balrog could guard against an attack of such intensity at close range. The result was a black explosion which consumed both fighters. Neo backpedalled out of it a moment later, his body covered in severe burns. Ryuga on the other hand emerged unscathed, his eyes watching intently for any movement through the dust cloud.

"Screw this!" Neo growled as he dropped to the ground. Using his arm as a support, he propelled himself forward, the veins on his legs bursting as the blood coated it to form another blood blade.

"Blood Make: Feral!" he called out as he attempted to dropkick Ryuga. Ryuga just simply stood still, waiting for the bladed appendage to near and at the last second grabbing it. Neo's eyes widened it surprise as he felt Ryuga pull him in, his own body's momentum being useful at the wrong time. When Neo was in striking range, Ryuga swung his clawed fist, striking Neo in the solar plexus. As if that wasn't enough, he fired off yet another bolt of black lightning, forcing it through and out of Neo's body.

"Blaaargh!" Neo vomited out a copious amount of blood but even that did not earn him any respite from Ryuga. The latter followed up with a knee strike to his ribs, knocking the wind out of him. Even as Neo tried his catch his breath, he still swung Balrog in a wide arc, attempting to slash Ryuga. However as the sword neared, Ryuga simply vanished in a burst of static. Neo's eyes widened once more when he caught sight of Ryuga once again, his arm blade poised to strike.

Only this time, he showed no mercy. With a clean swing, he instantly cleaved through Neo's left arm, severing it and Balrog from him. There was loud clang followed by a thud as Balrog clattered to the ground, his dismembered arm falling next.

"FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK!" Neo roared in pain as he grasped at the bloody stump that was once his left arm. Once more the black veins erupted all over the wound, preventing Neo from reattaching the fallen limb. Those precious seconds did not go unnoticed by Ryuga who took the opportunity to deliver an uppercut to Neo's chin, sending him spiraling into the sky.

"Alright, I'm ending this!" Neo roared as he caught his balance mid flight. Screw the fight. If he kept this up, he was going to be the one losing at this rate. Losing his regenerative powers was one thing but losing Balrog was another. Without the blade, he lost his only means of damaging Ryuga and the power boost that came with it. It was dangerous to keep battling any further and despite Neo's bloodthirsty nature, he knew very well when he should stop fooling around.

Flexing his back muscles, he forced even more blood out of them, allowing them to take the form of a single crystallized appendage. Using his momentum, he began to spiral, rocketing towards Ryuga in an attempt to settle things once and for all.

"Bloody Edge!" he cried out as he shot the blade appendage at his brother.

"Pathetic," Ryuga growled, speaking for the first time since he transformed. If you really want to die so badly, I will grant your wish." In that instant, a black magic circle appeared beneath Ryuga's feet, causing another wave of darkness to erupt. This time the darkness clung to the blades extending from Ryuga's claws, coating them in a thick black aura. Holding them in a cross, Ryuga waited for Neo to near, striking only when the blood blade was only inches from his face.

"End Waltz." He called out emotionlessly as he swung both arm blades.

The first swing unleashed a crescent wave of lightning that tore through Neo's spell, shattering the bladed appendage easily. Neo's eyes widened in horror as he watched his strongest magic splinter into nothingness, completely defenseless against the second strike. Like the first, the second swing also unleashed a crescent wave of black lightning, but this one tore through Neo's midsection, cleaving his body into two halves.

Neo's mouth yelled a silently scream as his two halves fell to the ground, the words never getting a chance to leave his throat. Ryuga watched emotionlessly as his brother's blood spattered all over his armor and the ground around him. Despite their past relation, Ryuga did not feel any hesitation when he swung his blade. Even as he watched Neo's pained expression in his last moments, he did not feel any regret or sadness. It was a weird sensation but Ryuga did not give any second thoughts about it.

"Finally, it's over." He breathed slowly, preparing to leave and join his team. Unfortunately for Ryuga, someone just wouldn't let him go.

"No, it's not over," a voice wheezed as Ryuga felt an arm grab his leg.

"Impossible," Ryuga thought to himself as he gazed downwards but what he saw confirmed his thoughts. Right in front of him was Neo's severed top, his arm grabbing tightly onto Ryuga leg. Despite the pool of blood that was pouring from his torso, Neo was still able to breathe and move, refusing to budge from his current position.

"You still live," Ryuga snarled, the anger in his voice barely contained. Neo just chuckled maniacally, his laughter occasionally interrupted by coughs of pain.

"Nice try Brother," Neo sneered. "But you aren't going to get rid of me so easily. Even if I am going to die, I will make sure that I will take someone out with me."

"You know very well that you can't kill me the way you are," Ryuga stated but his eyes narrowed as he spotted red cracks appearing all over Neo's body.

"That's true," Neo grinned, his face starting to fragment like the rest of his body. "But I'm pretty damn sure this is going to make you regret staying alive."

The words instantly struck a chord with Ryuga. Before his eyes, he watched as the mana flow within Neo's body accelerate rapidly, causing its concentration to reach dangerous levels. He had heard Neo speak of a final resort technique that he devised on his own back during their days in Phantom. It involved overloading his magic to critical levels to create a bomb of pure mana. While he had never seen Neo use it before, the way he spoke of it sent shivers down Ryuga's spine.

"You wouldn't."

"YES I WILL!" Neo roared with laughter as streams of lights beginning seeping out of the cracks in his body, signaling that the end was almost near. Ryuga instinctively tried to back off, only to realize that Neo was holding him still.

"BYE BYE BROTHER!" Neo cackled, causing Ryuga's eyes to widen in fear.

"CRIMSON GRAVE!"

The next instant, Neo's entire body exploded. A magnificent crimson flash of light bathed the entire area, engulfing Ryuga completely. From afar, the explosion resembled that of a giant cross, its shockwave reverberating for miles to come.

Nothing could compare to this. Getting stabbed, having his organs blown apart, all of it paled in comparison to the pain that was washing over Ryuga at the moment. While his armor did lessen the damage to a large extent, it still did not do much good. This was never ending, like the fire which consumed the sinful.

Ryuga could not remember the last time he screamed for his life.

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	14. Aftermath and a Close Call

**A/N:** _With the last chapter, we finally see the closing of Ryuga's team's mission. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it. Now we will be moving onto Aiden's group and I ensure you it will be just as good and thrilling. It will probably cover 5-6 chapters as well before we get started on Hikari's team mission. And that brings me to a question. Where would you like their team to have a showdown with Black Citadel? Of all the teams, I found it the hardest to come up with a good location for them to duke it out so I would like to seek your opinions on the matter. Send me your suggestions via pm and pm only because I don't want any spoilers to be in the reviews. So I guess, thanks in advance XD_

 _Lots of love to my dear reviewers._

 **OleanderBleedingHeart:** _Thanks for the review. I was afraid that the gore would be a turn off for some, so I'm really glad that it worked out well XD_

 **Klbubblepop786:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter_

 **Origm2012:** _Glad to see you back as well XD. I thought about what you said earlier about how it would be better to weave in characters into the main storyline instead of altering it. So I thought it would be a good way to introduce how Glaive got his title and tie him to Fairy Tail as well. Glad you enjoyed the fight with Athena and Neo. I was initially a bit worried that Athena's fight would be a bit too short and anti climatic, but I think I was just over thinking things hahaha. Don't worry about Neo and Ryuga's fight though; all other S-class/Orochi fights will be just as good if not better XD_

 **Martyn:** _It's good to be back_

 **madmissY01:** _#heartstopping #nervewrecking_

 **NovaChrono:** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter XD_

 **Credits**

 **Caillace Fluer Geisel : Elegant Soul**

 _Please refer to Chapter 1 for disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Ion, around 7am**

Liliana's eyes fluttered open to the feeling of something cold and wet on her skin. Her body felt numb for some strange reason that she could not recall all of a sudden. Her first thoughts were that it was due to her body still recovering from Vali's close range attack but something felt amiss. Especially that bright light she saw from the distance.

The light! That was no ordinary light! Liliana's brows furrowed as thoughts came back to her. A second passed before her eyes widened as the scene replayed itself in her mind. They had just subdued Athena when a crimson pillar of light erupted from behind them. With it came an enormous shockwave and explosion that surged towards them without mercy. The last thing Liliana remembered was the force that slammed her into the trunk of the tree before she lost consciousness once more.

"Oh no. GUYS!" she rolled over instantly and forced herself onto her knees, looking about anxiously. Vali was on the ground right next to her, his skin covered in burns and a trickle of blood ran down his forehead. Zephyr was a few feet above her, hanging from a loose branch. His face was covered in soot and parts of his clothing were burnt completely off. Apparently the force of the explosion was so great that it blew both of them out of the tree.

Along with the artifact. Nulgath's sheath now lay on the ground before them, the gleaming metal catching the rays of light from the early sun. If anything, it made it looked like a gift from God and that was ironic when one really knew its true power.

"Is everyone all right?" Liliana asked.

Vali gave a thumb up, groaning slightly as he raised his arm. His body was aching in so many places that even the slightest movement sent jolts of pain, so he resorted to lying down instead.

"Just peachy," Zephyr moaned as he loosened himself from the branch, dropping down onto the ground next to Liliana. He coughed slightly, exhaling a mouthful of soot. Just as he stopped, he almost gagged, the stench and sight of something causing him to feel nauseous instantly. That reaction was not lost on the two other mages as soon as they got a closer look at their surroundings.

All three of them, the giant tree and the ground before them were all caked in a thick layer of blood, a pungent stench permeating their noses. Despite the scene out of a horror story, none of the mages were severely hurt.

The blood belonged to someone else.

"The hell," Zephyr grumbled as he removed a blood soaked hand away from his chest. While he was glad that the blood was not his own or that of his teammates, it was just pure disgusting to be covered in the fluids of someone else.

"Do you think…"

"Yeah. It has to be him." Vali finished Zephyr's thoughts, both of them thinking of Neo instantly. If there was someone who messed and played with blood, it had to be the Orochi member. That explosion earlier on was no doubt his doing as well. Thanks their lucky stars that they were further away when it went off. Any closer and it may have been their blood that was spilt instead.

At that thought, all three mages froze. A sickening feeling crawled up their stomachs when they realized the implications of that last attack.

"RYUGA!" all three of them yelled, rushing to where they last saw the S-class mage.

Meanwhile, Ryuga was standing motionlessly still where he struck Neo down. Despite winning the battle, the Orochi member refused to go out without a fight, detonating himself as a last attempt to take Ryuga out with him. Although Ryuga was unable to escape, his armor managed to take the brunt of the explosion for him.

But even so, he barely made it.

Ryuga armor's was cracking and fragmenting in various places, pieces of it dropping off and vanishing into wisps of darkness. Ryuga himself was barely conscious, his body unable to take the sensory overload from the last attack. Unable to remain standing any further, Ryuga fell backwards and collapsed onto the ground. At the same time, the armor surrounding his body instantly vanished, leaving him in his normal clothing. The wound on his chest instantly reopened, causing Ryuga to cough out copious amounts of blood as he struggled to breathe.

"Damn," Ryuga cursed as he painfully shifted his hand to hold his gaping stomach, a futile attempt at stemming the blood flow. While his magic did provide a temporary relief to his wounds, it only lasted as long as the magic was active. In his current state, he could hardly stand, let alone keep up his magic.

"If I really go down like this, even Yura will be mocking me when she sees me again," Ryuga laughed weakly, attempting to shift his attention away from his wounds. It only lasted a second though, a sharp stab of pain bringing him back to reality instantly.

"Boss, you ok?" he heard a familiar voice call out from the distance, followed by the thundering of multiple footsteps.

"I'm…fine…" Ryuga breathed raggedly, though the voice that came out was far from fine.

"Thank goodness…THE HELL YOU ARE FINE!" Vali yelled in panic as he knelt next to Ryuga, his mouth agape like the hole in Ryuga's chest and stomach.

Liliana had her hands to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief as she tried to process what was happening before her eyes.

"Damn it Boss," Zephyr croaked out, tears forming at the tips of his eyes already. "Please don't die on us. I still have a lot to learn from you." Over the past 2 years, he had always treated Ryuga like an older brother. He already lost his kin once and he was not ready to lose another so soon.

Liliana and Vali had even more pained expressions on their faces. Liliana was sniffling already, trying her best not to cry while Vali was also choking on his words, about to burst into tears as well. Having been recruited by Ryuga and trained by him for almost half a decade, neither of them was ready to see him go just yet.

Ryuga muttered something, though it was muffled out by the whimpering and his own blood filled throat.

"Don't talk," Vali sniffled as he placed a hand over Ryuga's shoulder. "Just get some rest, we'll find a way out of here soon."

Ryuga grabbed Vali's hand with whatever strength he had left, yanking him down to his chest level so that he could hear him speak.

"Sheath…Over chest…Now,"

"Ok, I understand," Vali answered and complied, placing Nulgath's sheath over Ryuga's wounds. His brows were arched in confusion though. What good could the sheath possibly do at this point?

The instant the sheath made contact with Ryuga, a miracle happened.

A golden light instantly erupted from the ancient artifact, blinding all the mages present. Zephyr and Liliana turned their heads away to avoid the glare while Ryuga simply closed his eyes. Vali shielded his with an arm, squinting as he tried to observe what was happening. From what he could see, the light was slowly closing up Ryuga's wounds, healing them completely. No, not healing. It was as though time had been reversed, as though all the battles he had fought in never took place to begin with. When the light died down, Ryuga looked as good as new, any trace of the wound ceasing to exist.

Zephyr stared there gob smacked while Liliana began crying tears of joy. Both mages instantly ran over and wrapped their arms around Ryuga and embraced him, sincerely glad that he was alright. Though there were burning questions like what the hell happened, they decided to save it for later when they returned back to the guild.

"Whoa, this is some voodoo shit right here,' Vali remarked as he picked up the sheath. If one part of it could do so much, imagine what could happen if all six pieces were reassembled as one.

"All the more we cannot let Black Citadel have them," Ryuga grunted as he tried to sit up, Liliana and Zephyr assisting him. While he was out of danger, he was still too weak to be moving just yet.

"What now? Do we return to the guild?" Liliana asked.

"Yeah, we should. We will need to rest and find out more about the artifact we collected." Ryuga replied, his gaze falling on her. "Someone grab the twins and Rin too. I think we have some questions that only they can provide answers to."

"Errr, not to pop your bubble Boss," Zephyr started, causing Ryuga to turn and face him. "But there's no one left."

All three mages glanced around, proving that what Zephyr said was true.

There was no one left in the area except them. The only evidence that the two groups ever clashed was the barren wasteland and the hilt of Balrog just sticking out of the ground.

So where did everyone go?

 **Location Unknown**

Unknownst to the Scarlet Nova mages, Black Citadel had already packed their bags and left the battleground. While the other three mages went off to save Ryuga from bleeding out, Rin, Zora and Mara were picked up by someone and taken off to safety. If they were any other grunts, he would have left them to die or be captured by the magic council. Count their lucky stars that the guild still had some use of them or their talents.

And who better to ensure their safety then Kaguro himself.

Rin groaned as she came to. A black and blue bruise was already forming at the corner of her head where she collided into the barrier. The last thing she remembered was Zephyr striking her so she was quite surprised to find herself being carried when she awoke.

"So you're awake huh," came the voice of Kaguro. With that he hurled Rin onto the ground, not caring that she was grievously hurt in her fight. Rin yelped in pain as she tumbled onto the ground but Kaguro could not care less.

"Do it, "he growled lowly, killer intent seeping out from his body as he made his request. Rin trembled like a dead leaf in the wind, completely paralyzed by Kaguro's gaze. Despite the smile on his face, she knew that he would kill her without hesitation if he had to repeat himself. She nodded her head slowly, the fear in her eyes visible for Kaguro to see.

With a shaking hand, she reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out a transparent bottle. Most people her age would have freaked out or ran away when someone told them to carry it but for Rin, she considered it an honor that he was willing to leave something so precious in her care. It was proof of his trust in her.

Within that bottle was a heart.

Neo's heart.

Carefully, she laid it down onto the ground. Next she pulled out a strand of wire from her glove and wrapped it around her wrist. In a swift motion, she pulled at it, causing her wrist to bleed. She then directed the blood drops to fall onto the heart, waiting for the inevitable.

A second passed before the heart started to throb. With each passing moment, it began to beat even faster, as though Neo was alive. That was considered ironic considering how Neo just blew himself up into a million pieces.

And for the second time that day, a miracle happened.

As though pulled by a magnet, Neo's blood began to congregate around his heart. It flew in from everywhere, the earth, and the trees and even from Rin's clothes. Within seconds, there was a huge pool of blood enveloping the heart, causing it to sink. When the heart was completely submerged, a bright red magic circle appeared over the pool of blood. Slowly, it began to compact into that of human form and when the circle passed over it, Neo's body resurfaced.

It wasn't complete though. While his right side and face had more or less regenerated, his left side looked like it had been through a meat grinder and was still scorched. The twin scars on his chest were still fresh and his left arm was completely missing. It only meant that Ryuga's magic was still in effect, preventing him from healing completely.

Even so, Rin still knew it was Neo. With tears in her eyes, she embraced the Blood mage who returned her with a one armed hug. No matter how many times she witnessed that spell, Rin was always worried and terrified for him. She was always afraid that he would never come back one of these days.

"You failed Neo," Kaguro hissed, the disdain in his tone for all to hear.

"I won't next time. It was a simple mistake, I thought that…" Neo started only to be silenced by a glare from Kaguro.

"There will be no next time," Kaguro growled. "The only mistake made was me trusting you to handle Ryuga on your own. You are nowhere near him in strength and yet you have the gall to challenge him. I truly have overestimated you."

"What was that," Neo roared but he instantly shut up as soon as he felt the wave of killer intent pouring out from Kaguro.

"Huh, do you have an issue," Kaguro spoke emotionlessly, his head tilted to one side. Despite standing normally, Neo knew all too well that Kaguro was going to kill him if he spoke another word. If he dared challenge him again, he was sure to lose his head before he could even see him move.

Neo shook his head slightly, his body instinctively moving backwards to put some distance between the two Orochi members.

"Good boy," Kaguro finished, dispersing his killer aura. "You will receive punishment for your actions," Kaguro snarled as he opened up the gate to the Dark Continent. "I will make sure I see to it."

Neo said nothing, hanging his head in shame at the truth behind Kaguro's words. Reluctantly he followed Kaguro through the portal before it closed, ready to accept his fate.

 **In Aggra's mouth**

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! WE HAVE BEEN EATEN!" Gemma shrieked as she had her hands to her head, running about like a headless chicken and yelling her lungs out.

"HAI!" Judar and Flora screamed as well, joining Gemma in some sort of stupid ritual. Their first jobs as mages and they were all eaten alive. What a great way to go down in the annals of history.

"Dear whoever finds this letter, please let my body be buried under a sandy beach with a bouquet of fresh orchids every month," Judar whimpered aloud as he started writing his will on a piece of paper.

That earned him a knock on the head by Blitz and Asuna.

"OW!" Judar yelled as he rubbed the two swelling bumps that were currently growing out of his head. "What was that for?"

"Calm down man," Blitz said, causing Judar to shoot daggers at him.

"HEEEEELLLLLLOOOOO!" he cried out, "This is no time to be acting calm man. If you hadn't noticed, WE JUST GOT EATEN!"

And then it was Hanaku's turn to bash him on the head with her halberd.

"First off, quieten down. I'm getting a terrible headache with all your screaming." Hanaku said as she rubbed her temple. "Next, take a look around us before you start panicking."

Gemma, Judar and Flora instantly kept quiet and opened their eyes, observing their surroundings carefully for the first time. Sure they were definitely in Aggra's mouth given that one end of it was lined with razor sharp teeth but the other end of it was quite strange at the least. Where the gullet was supposed to be was a wooden door that had two fluorescent lamps hanging by each side of it.

"What's a door doing here," Gemma asked as she walked forward to inspect it.

"Maybe it got stuck when he ate a house or something?" suggested Judar.

"Then explain why the door has hinges," Asuna retorted. "That and the fact that it's so sparkling clean."

Judar just shrugged it off, running out of ideas to answer her. Meanwhile, Aiden had already walked up to the door and placed his hand against the handle.

"Are we really going in," Blitz asked.

"Well I see no harm in doing so," Aiden grinned. "Besides we don't have anywhere else to go now do we,"

Before anyone could say anything else, Aiden pushed open the door.

What lay before the Scarlet Nova mages' eyes was a sight to behold.

"What on earth?" Asuna whispered as she took in the view. What was supposed to be Aggra's body and throat was lined with chrome colored floor and ceiling. White florescent lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the entire space. Golden rimmed seats with red cushioned seats lined the sides, separated by an aisle for people to walk through. What's more, there were freaking windows beside each seat, allowing the passengers to have a clear view of the outside.

"Did we just transport into another direction?" Blitz wondered out loud as he began walking down the aisle. It seemed so unreal, like they were in the carriage of a luxury train.

"It's official," Gemma declared. "That nut-job of a hydra tried to eat a train carriage and it got stuck in his throat."

"I can hear you," growled a low voice which seemed to emit from all around them.

"Oopsies," Gemma chuckled nervously while that same voice seemed to snort in disgust.

"Aggra was it," Aiden spoke up. "Do you mind explaining what's going on here?"

"What you are seeing is a result of bio-mechanical engineering and experimentation that the magic council performed on me," Aggra explained. "Back when I was just a fry, I was captured and tested as a guinea pig for the magic council's transportation system. The chrome material you are seeing actually grows as I do, becoming the carriage that you see before you now."

"Whoa," Hanaku breathed as she listened to Aggra's story. "That sounds like something out of a science fiction book. But then how did you wind up here?"

"The artifact you seek, I was put in charge of transporting it to Morgoth over a decade ago."

"And I assumed that Master Glaive accompanied you?" Aiden added.

"Correct," Aggra confirmed his thoughts. "Unlike the assholes in the lab, he was one that treated me with respect. It was as though we spoke like equals though the difference in our strength was that much obvious. When the transportation was completed, he destroyed the locating chip within my body, preventing the magic council from ever tracking me down. In exchange, I promised him that I would act as the guardian and protect Morgoth from any impending threats. That has been the way for the past decade."

"Cool," chimed Judar and Gemma. "It seems like the Master is a nice guy after all, despite his serious expression all the time." Aiden and Blitz smiled at that remark while Hanaku and Asuna smirked.

"Take a rest and enjoy the view for now," Aggra continued. "We'll be reaching Morgoth very soon. And don't disturb the other passengers."

"Sure thing, we'll just… Wait, there are others?" Aiden was about to take a seat when Aggra's words came through. Instantly he kept his guard up, sensing something bad about to happen.

"I thought there was only one entrance to Morgoth?" Asuna insisted as she double checked the map piece that they had. True to her words, there was only a single route inscribed there. How did the rest of them board Aggra in that case?

"Who on earth told you that?" Aggra laughed. "That map is outdated by 10 years my dear. Did you really think that no one will bother coming after the artifact all this while?"

"Indeed, you guys are not the only ones looking for the artifact." A voice called out from the back of the carriage.

All the mages immediately turned their attention to the source of the voice. Seated at the last few seats of the carriage were six hooded figures. They were all wearing thick brown cloaks which obscured their faces, preventing anyone from identifying them. One of them stood up from his seat and faced the mages, revealing his hood as he did so.

"Greetings Scarlet Nova," Vale bowed slightly as he spoke to them. "It is an honor to finally meet with you."

"I can't really say that the honor is mine now can I, Vale Sitri." Aiden replied, causing the other mage's eyes to widen slightly in surprise.

"So you have heard of me?" he asked, curious.

"Not really. I only know that you are a member of Black Citadel." Aiden said, causing the rest of the Scarlet Nova mages to tense up.

"That and you are a member of Orochi."

That got everyone into panic mode. Asuna instantly loaded two silver arrows onto her bow and took aim at him. Blitz stood next to Hanaku, both drawn their combat knife and halberds respectively. Sand began to twist and howl around Judar while Gemma had already formed an iron sword on her left arm. On Vale's end, the rest of the hooded figures instantly stood up, some of them assuming battle stances immediately. Only one of them continued seating in their seat, still gazing out of the window.

However, both Vale and Aiden seemed pretty relaxed, not even moving an inch.

"Aiden, what are you doing?" Blitz growled lowly, his eyes never leaving the Orochi member.

"Nothing," Aiden replied with a grin. "I'm not going to do anything."

"What! But they are our enemies! We should take them out now before they compete with us for the artifact!" Judar protested while Gemma and Asuna nodded in agreement. A member of Orochi was too dangerous to be let loose on Morgoth, especially since what had happened at Sand Dune City.

"Take a good look around you guys," Aiden insisted, turning around to face his team. "Have you forgotten where we are?"

Vale was smiling at this point. Not one of arrogance but rather of admiration.

"So you noticed as well didn't you? I'm impressed."

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Hanaku asked, confused at Vale's choice of words.

"We're currently inside Aggra remember?" Aiden explained. "If we fight inside here, we'll probably end up damaging the carriage and we'll all be exposed to the acid outside us. That way no one leaves this place alive. Either that or Aggra will spit us all out from a bad stomachache."

"Affirmative. If we fight now, we'll all die either way." Vale finished. "It seems that the data collected on you does no justice. And here I was thinking that you were a pure muscle head."

"Well even fighters have to think once in a while eh?" Aiden smiled, while Vale responded with a small one of his own.

"So what now?" Gemma asked. While Aiden did have a point, it still felt pretty uncomfortable having your enemies so close by.

"A truce," proposed Aiden. "None of us makes a move on each other until we get to Morgoth. We'll settle things there fair and square."

"Agreed," Vale nodded but Aiden shook his head, causing the former to raise a brow in curiosity.

"I was addressing the one at the back, not you." Aiden pointed at the hooded figure still seated. "She's in charge isn't she?"

Vale just laughed under his breath. Today really was filled with tons of surprises. For the third time today, the S-class mage had impressed him. "Your call Ayumi," he called out to the hooded figure.

The one named Ayumi did not even turn to face them, continuing to stare out of the window. However she heard them loud and clear.

"Alright," she finally answered. "Just as long as they keep their end of the bargain."

"Of course," Vale replied, bowing to her slightly as she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "You heard her. We won't disturb you as long as you keep your distance."

"Fair enough," Aiden smiled and turned around, asking his team to stand down.

Vale did the same, though thoughts of excitement were running through his head.

"Aiden Cross, you are an interesting individual indeed." Vale smiled to himself. "I will be looking forward to the day I fight you."

Back with the Scarlet Nova mages, Aiden's smile vanished all of a sudden. A serious look was now on his face, his brows knitted with worry.

"What's wrong," Blitz asked with concern. It was rare to see the S-class mage looking troubled.

"Their leader, Ayumi," Aiden started. "She's definitely hiding something."

"What do you mean," Asuna probed, curious about Aiden's findings.

"If she's the leader and Vale's a member of Orochi, it most likely that she's probably ranked higher than he is."

"And what about that," Hanaku added. It made a lot of sense from where he was coming so she didn't understand what the problem was.

"My concern is that I'm not detecting any magic power from her." Aiden finished, causing the eyes of his team to widen slightly as his words sank in. "It's like a void. I sense absolutely nothing from her. If she really is a member of Orochi, we might have a problem on our hands."

"Can you take her," Gemma asked nervously. Judar shared her sentiments as well. Fighting an enemy without knowing her strength could prove to be suicidal.

"Maybe, but I can't be sure for certain." Aiden sighed as he cracked his knuckles. "At least not until I've confirmed her rank. Vale is ranked seven of the eight. So I guess I'll be fine if she's five or six."

Upon hearing this, the rest of the mages sighed in relief. At least they could rely on Aiden if they really had to clash with the Orochi members.

Unknownst to them, Ayumi was listening onto their conversation. She cackled softly after hearing their small chat, knowing that they'll be in for a rude shock when they did come fighting head on.

"I hope you last long enough, Scarlet Nova. Entertain me at the least." She whispered softly as she gazed out of the window once more.

From the reflection cast on the window, the number four shone brightly under her right eye.

 **Scarlet Nova Guild House**

"Neel, you have to stop pacing up and down. You're gonna give me a headache." complained Shinji as he held his hands to his head. The younger mage was strutting to and fro across the guild house, humming nervously as she did so.

"But I'm worried Shinji," she said, turning up to face the Gunner mage. "It's been almost a day and we still hadn't heard any news from them."

"Look, Ryuga is S-class and his team is no push-over either. They definitely can hold their weight in a fight." Shinji tried to reassure her but that only seemed to make her more worried.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about!" she exclaimed, grabbing Shinji by the shoulders. The sudden physical contact instantly made Shinji take a step back, surprised by her actions.

"He always reports back every day, no matter what." She insisted, grabbing Shinji even harder. "Something must have gone wrong with their mission!"

"Calm down, Neel," Shinji replied gently, removing her hands from his shoulders. "All we can do now is being patient. I'm sure he'll come back soon."

"Ok," Neel whimpered as she crumpled into a chair, hugging her knees close to her chest. "I really hope he is alright." Tears were already brimming at her eyes, a drop or two streaking down her cheeks.

"Eh," Shinji backed up a bit, feeling a pang of regret as he watched the younger mage turn her back against him. He felt bad making her cry, though it wasn't entirely his fault. He just wished that he could assure her better.

"How about you train with your team," Shinji suggested, attempting to change the subject. "I'm sure that they are raring to go for a good spar."

"Not interested," Neel said, curling tighter into a ball. "Besides they aren't fighting anyway."

That caught Shinji's attention. Apart from Scar and Neel, the rest of their team was battle maniacs. Two of them were slayers to top that off. To see all of them not fighting was one thing. To see them sitting at a table and having a discussion was something new altogether.

"We should come up with a team name for ourselves," Zion started, a mischievous grin on his face. He had a foot on the table top, addressing his other two team mates.

"And what brought this on?" Aly asked, a bored expression on her face. She wasn't really big on names or good with them. She thought that as long as the team functioned well together, it was all that mattered.

"Muscle head here just wants to compare with Otis' team." Tsuki giggled, her legs propped up against the table as she kicked back and relaxed. She still recalled how the Magma God Slayer was complaining about their team having a name while they didn't. "Something along the lines of ice sucks, fire rules?"

"Shush," Zion snapped, causing both females mages to laugh. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "We should really consider coming up with one for our team. It makes it easier for clients to relate to us as well."

"Like the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth and the Raijinshuu?" Aly asked.

"Exactly!" Zion exclaimed, pointing towards Aly. "So after a long time of consideration and selection, I think our name should be Igneous Eruptus or Magma Dome." He declared proudly, though the other two didn't seem very impressed.

"Last I checked, you're the only one who uses Magma based magic," Tsuki retorted as she kicked the table, causing Zion to fall on his tailbone. "If anything, it should be something like Solar Quasar or Ra's Descent."

That got Aly into a coughing fit. "I could say the same for you Tsuki, a pot calling the kettle black." She smirked at the younger mage who shot her a glance. "I think an awesome name would be Agni Kai or Hephaestus' Reincarnated."

"Lame," both Tsuki and Zion stuck their tongues out, causing Aly to glare daggers. Very soon, the originally peaceful discussion instantly turned into a brawl. Chairs and tables were being hurled and insults about naming senses were exchanged.

"Well, they are fighting now." Shinji sighed as he watched from a distance as the mages tumbled and stepped over one another. Why couldn't they resolve things peacefully?

A short while later, all three of them collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Their clothes were slightly messy and their hair was in disarray but all of them were fine. Just exhausted from their squabble.

"Ok, how about we all say a name at the same time. Something that involves fire and does not incline too much to either of our magics." Zion suggested in between breaths.

"Alright," Aly agreed.

"Fine by me," Tsuki chirped, a name already popping into her mind.

"Well, then. In 3, 2 ,1,"

"Team Prominence!" all three of them shouted excitedly. A moment of silence passed as they glanced at each other, before laughing out loud when they realized that they had all reached a consensus.

"Heck yeah! Now that's teamwork!" Zion laughed out loud, glad that his teammates and him had the same thoughts. "And now to commemorate our establishment," Zion leapt to his feet before climbing up another table.

"Hey Sub-Zero, we Prominence challenge you to a tag battle!" Zion declared arrogantly, pointing to the table across them whereby Klein and Rhea were seated.

"Really, Zion," groaned Klein as he closed the book he was reading. He was already irritated from all the noise they were making from their discussion and the last thing he needed now was to fight an unnecessary battle.

"What's wrong Klein?" Zion gloated. "Are you scared that we will kick your ass in battle?"

"Why you," Klein growled, tick marks forming on his forehead. Why couldn't that idiot get the idea that they had to conserve their magic? Just as he was about to lash out, he felt Rhea place a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down Klein," she reminded. "It's just a spar. Besides, it would make good warm up for the battle against Orochi."

"But…"

"We accept your challenge Zion," Rhea called back, causing Zion to grin wildly. While Klein had a somewhat worried look on his face, Rhea's one was rather calm and composed. "Don't worry about it." She reassured him. "Let's just get it done and over with."

"So its gonna be a three on three?" Tsuki asked.

"Nah, I'm too tired to fight now." Aly yawned as she slouched onto a chair, dozing off almost immediately to the surprise of her team mates.

"Well, I didn't bring my guns, so I'm going to sit this out." Shinji shrugged as he gestured towards his empty holsters. However, the main reason behind his reluctance to fight was so that he could watch over Neel. The least he could do was to stop her from thinking any stupid thoughts.

"So, a two on two then?" Rhea asked.

"Winner goes to whoever surrenders first." Zion smirked.

With that, all four mages assembled at the courtyard. From Team Prominence were Zion and Tsuki while from Team Sub-Zero were Klein and Rhea. All of them looked raring to go, eager to get some training before the big battle ahead. A small audience comprising Shinji, Sora and Shiro sat at the sidelines, waiting for the action to kick start.

"Come on Tsuki! You can do it!" Sora cheered loudly at his partner.

"Shiro believes you can win, Tsuki, Zion." Shiro mumbled timidly.

"Don't overexert yourselves," Shinji reminded, hoping that none of them would get carried away too much and injury either party.

"The first move is yours," Klein stated as he assumed a battle stance. Across him, Zion smirked as he did the same.

"Well I hope you don't regret it!" Zion wasted no time in gathering his magic, letting his cheeks swell as he roared "Magma God's Bellow!" He breathed out a thick column of black magma which shot straight at Klein.

"Ice Dragon's Roar!" Klein responded with his own breath attack, launching out a thick column of bright blue ice which collided head on with Zion's spell. An explosion of steam erupted from the impact of the two magics, temporarily obscuring the view of both mages. But that didn't stop them from calling out their next spells.

"Magma God's Sin!" Zion cried out as he fired a disc of black magma through the steam cloud. Even before the spell was complete, Klein could already sense the immense heat radiating from the other end without seeing it. Deciding to strike first, he drove his fist into the ground, calling out "Ice Dragon's Domain!"

The courtyard instantly froze over with a thin sheet of ice, stretching underneath Zion's feet. Zion cursed as he felt his footing slip, causing his spell to go wild and shoot up into the air instead while he fell backwards. Klein did not let up, charging through the steam cloud with blue magic circles surrounding his hands.

"Ice Dragon's Claw!" he cried as he brought down the frozen talons against Zion. Zion instinctively rolled to a side, narrowly missing the attack. "Dammit!" he snarled as he somersaulted into mid air, this time magma coated his legs as he prepared to dropkick Klein.

"Magma God's Rage!" he called out as he slammed his right foot across Klein's left arm. Klein hissed in pain as he felt his skin burn and was sent flying backwards. As his feet dragged along the ice, two more magic circles formed at Klein's palms and from them protruded two large snowflakes.

"Ice Dragon's Snowflakes" he yelled as he hurled the oversized projectiles at Zion. Both of them hit their marks, catching Zion by surprise who was not expecting a counter so soon. The first snowflake impacted across Zion's left arm while the other hit him squarely in the chest, both of them exploding with blue energy. Zion coughed as he felt the ice magic sting him, taking a few steps back.

"Switch!" both mages called simultaneously as they signaled for their partners to take over.

"Alright!" Tsuki cheered as she leapt from Zion's back, golden magic condensing into her right arm as it began to glow and hum with power. "Firing Hammer of the Solar Dragon!" she barked as she swung her arm, releasing a wave of explosive energy towards Klein.

"Not so fast. Winter Magic: Ice Wave" Rhea responded with a crescent blade made of ice of equal size and power, cancelling Tsuki's attack. Tsuki instantly dropped to the ground, golden magic circles lining the soles of her feet as she prepared her next spell. "Solar Dragon's Blazing Path!" she called out as her feet were instantly coated with golden light. She then accelerated towards Rhea, her feet burning away at the ice Klein had created and leaving orange trails of fire behind.

When she got into close range, she swung a left hook at Rhea, hoping to catch her off guard. Instead Rhea drew a small blue dagger from her pouch named Frostbite. As Tsuki's punch neared, she used the hilt of the dagger to knock against her wrist, causing her attack to fail.

"Ow!" Tsuki grimaced as she watched a bruise swell up on the back of her hand. Rhea did not let that few seconds go to waste, landing a kick squarely in Tsuki's stomach and sending the younger mage tumbling backwards.

Tsuki yelped in pain as she regained her composure, half a dozen golden magic circles appearing behind her. "Solar Dragon's Drones!" she yelled as she fired off the small condensed balls of solar energy at Rhea, launching an omnipotent attack.

Rhea skated across the ice as the lances of energy fired from the drones, gracefully avoiding most of them. Despite their size, the energy levels of the drones were considerably large, causing Rhea to be unable to evade their shots completely. Every now and then she felt her skin singe from the extreme heat of the lasers but she bit her tongue and maintained her composure. The only thing on her mind was getting up close with Tsuki.

"Not good," Tsuki called out as she watched Rhea get closer with each passing second. Just as she was about to call for a switch with Zion, another voice rang out in the courtyard.

"Terraforming: Arms!"

Without warning, four enormous stone arms erupted from the floors of the courtyard or the sides of the dorm and grabbed the mages into midair. No matter how hard they tried to get out of them, the stone arms' grip held fast, preventing anyone from escaping. When they all looked down from their stone prisons, they saw Seras standing at the entrance of the guild hall, both arms outstretched. Beside her was Otis and Scar.

And all three of them did not look very pleased.

"Oops, busted." Zion grinned sheepishly as he glanced at Scar who glared back at him with a disapproving look on her face.

"It's not our fault! They were the ones that challenged us!" Klein protested, only for Otis to sigh and cover his face out of embarrassment.

"You all should know better than to waste your strength now when we could leave anytime for our missions," Otis chided the four of them while Scar nodded her head in agreement. It was suicidal trying to spar before a potential death match and while she did encourage her team to practice their skills, now was not the best time to do it.

"We're sorry," came the collected response from all four mages.

"Do I let them down now?" Seras asked, but both mages shook their heads.

"Leave them there for a while, until they learnt their lesson." Scar replied emotionlessly as she turned and headed for the guild hall. Otis nodded as well as he followed suit, leaving only Seras left.

"Sorry guys," Seras smiled sadly as she too took her leave, causing groans and complaints to erupt from the four mages held captive.

"So who won that?" Sora asked.

"Well, I'm guessing Seras did." Shinji shrugged.

 **Clover Town**

Glaive had arrived at his destination earlier than expected, having left the late afternoon before. As such he had arrived at Clover Town two hours earlier than the scheduled meeting for all Guild Masters as per request of the Magic Council.

That suited him just fine. It gave him enough buffer time to locate a certain someone that he knew. Someone he had not spoken to in person for over 15 years.

Instead of turning right from the train station and heading into town, Glaive took a detour and went behind, taking the small dirt path which lead deep into the woods. After walking for about 15 minutes or so, Glaive came to a small clearing. At the end of it stood a small two storey house that was made entirely of wood and dirt, having only four circular windows to let the sunlight pass through and a small chimney.

"At least she didn't change her address," Glaive thought aloud. "Guess some things still stay the same." She was never one who really liked to interact with others, often preferring the animals and the serenity of nature over everything else. That probably explains why she chose to live in the woods as well, away from civilization.

But at the end of the day, civilization still caught up with her. As Glaive walked closer to the house, he spotted the mailbox next to it bursting with mail. Taxes, invoices and even gambling debts littered the ground around it, causing sweat drops and a sigh to escape Glaive's lips.

"Yup, some things just never change."

He carefully threaded towards the house, lightly tapping on the wooden door to see if anyone was at home. A second passed before a somewhat raspy voice responded from behind the door.

"Go away. I have no money to return you, but I do have some hungry wolves behind the door. I'm sure you wouldn't want me to open it now, do you." There was the sound of someone clearing her throat before a very weird growl escaped her lips. It sounded like someone being constipated instead of a ravenous wolf.

That got Glaive laughing. Yup, she was the same person alright. Still using the same old threats to hide from her debtors.

"It's me Caillace," Glaive chuckled. "Can you open the door please?"

There was an awkward silence that passed, before the thundering of footsteps could be heard as someone ran within the house. Glaive saw the curtains of one window being pulled back slightly before it were closed once again. Another thundering of footsteps could be heard, followed by the clings and clangs of locks being opened. After which the door swung open, revealing the owner of the house.

"Damn it Glaive, write me a letter in advance next time," the woman chided though she had a wide smile on her face. She currently stood at 5'0, having a slightly hunched back due to years of age. Like Glaive, she had white hair but it was tied up into a bun instead. If anything was young about her, it was her eyes, still as brown as Glaive remembered them. She had a wrinkled face and a pointed chin, giving people the appearance that she was like a witch. To add on to that misconception, she was dressed in a black witches' robe and black heels. By her side was a brown broom that had blue runes and glyphs written on it.

"My bad," Glaive apologized, bending over to give Caillace a hug which the other mage returned with her own. "It was quite rushed so I had no time to make any preparations."

"That has always been a bad aspect of you," Caillace smirked. "Always leaving things to the last minute and not planning ahead."

"I guess we all haven't changed much eh?" Glaive laughed, the irony dawning on how he was just commenting on how she still acted the same as 20 years ago.

 **A short while later**

"So what brings you here all of a sudden?" Caillace asked as she offered Glaive a cup of rose tea that she just brewed. The two of them were currently seated in her living room's sofas; in between them was a small wooden table with a teapot and two glasses. "I sure hope it's not because something happened to Chantal."

"Don't worry about it." Glaive reassured. "She's coping well in Scarlet Nova. She's even made many new friends and gets along well with everyone in general."

"Hmm. That's good to hear." Caillace nodded as she took a sip from her tea. She was really worried initially that her daughter would do something silly after that experience. It seems like sending her to join Scarlet Nova was a good choice after all. "But if it's not about Chantal, what could it be then?"

"Do you still remember our last mission?"

That sentence instantly caused Caillace's blood to run cold. Her face darkened and one could see that her body was tensing up to a very large extent.

"Glaive, you do know that subject is taboo right?" she replied emotionlessly, the details of what happened that day replaying in her mind all over. It was a silent agreement amongst the three of them to never bring up that topic for as long as they lived. Each of them had lost someone important that day.

For Glaive, it was his wife.

For Makarov, it was someone that he treated like his own son.

For Caillace, it was two of her best friends.

"I apologize," Glaive replied, his tone turning forlorn. "But there is something that I have to confirm. You have heard of the attack on Sand Dune City by Black Citadel right?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I have a feeling that it has something to do with that incident 20 years ago." Glaive finished, a grim expression on his face.

"You don't mean that…" Caillace's face was now horrified, having reached the same conclusion as Glaive.

"I plan on checking the burial site after the meeting with the other Guild Masters." Glaive said. "I was hoping that you could come with me as well."

"Definitely," Caillace responded, her voice steeled with determination now. "I just hope that it is only our imagination and us over-thinking things again."

Glaive nodded grimly. If anything, he really hoped that his theory was not true.

If it did, it meant that the entire magic world would be plunged into death and chaos once more.

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	15. Replacements and the second artifact

**A/N:** _And here's another chapter. Sorry for the lateness in posting this one. I finally managed to cough some time to write it amidst all the studying. I do apologize if I got some stuff mixed up or grammatical errors all over. Working at 1 am every night takes its toll. Nonetheless, I hope you guys will enjoy it XD._

 _Some minor updates. Do not expect the next chapter to be out so soon. Expected date of release would probably first week of March due to upcoming tests. If I can, I will try to cough up another chapter as soon as I finished my test on Thursday. Until then, please wait patiently_

 _Lots of love for my reviewers but due to time constraints, I won't be doing any reviews this chapter. Hope yall can understand :P_

 **Credits**

 **Rina Saito : Snow Mistress 15**

 **Bella Jane Sinclair: Snow Mistress 15**

 **Olin Fox: King Katsu**

 _Please refer to Chapter 1 for disclaimers_

 _Enjoy!_

 **Dark Continent, Black Citadel Guildhall**

"And so we commemorate the loss of our fallen comrade." Kaguro said solemnly as he closed his eyes and bowed before the white coffin in front of him. Within it lay the body of Athena, the first Orochi member to have fallen in the battle of the two guilds. In his hands was a small white book that was presumably a bible and in his other was a single white orchid.

"Let us have a moment of silence, to remember her courage, her beauty, her… her…" Kaguro whispered when he suddenly became choked on his words. To an outsider, it looked as though he was overwhelmed with feelings for his fallen comrade.

But to the members of Black Citadel, they knew all the better than to let appearances fool them.

"HER WEAKNESS AND STUPIDITY! HER UTTER INCOMPETENCE AT COMEPLETEING THE MISSION AT HAND!" Kaguro roared, a sick grin on his face as he mocked the fallen Orochi member. He then proceeded to kick the coffin, causing her corpse to tumble down the stairs and onto the marbled floor.

Instantly, the members of Black Citadel erupted with laughter, sneering and mocking their fallen comrade. All around Kaguro, they hurled various objects at her body, the occasional screams of joy ringing out when they managed to land a direct hit.

"Ugh, remind me to never do this again," Kaguro rolled his eyes as he tossed aside the orchid and bible, returning to his seat on the pedestal. With a wave of his hand, he signaled the medical team that was on standby next to the stairwell.

"Remove that piece of trash from my sight," he said, the disdain and disgust in his eyes and voice for all to see and hear.

"Understood," Eiko responded as she moved in to collect the corpse, dodging ever so slightly to avoid the random objects hurled. She then ordered her other two team members to bring forth a luminous green container that was circular in shape. Carefully, she placed Athena's body within in before tapping the buttons on the side of it to seal it off.

Well the easy part was done. Now all that was left was to wait till the liquid drained her body completely dry of magic.

Eiko sighed inwardly as she ordered her team to remove the container and bring it back to the lab. Even in death, one could not find peace when one was part of Black Citadel. All members ranked A-class and above had to have their corpses retrieved and drained of magic if they happened to meet with, how should she say, unfortunate accidents. Kaguro had made it clear that all magic was precious and necessary for reviving their master, even if it meant that it had to come from their own comrades. All A-class mages and above possessed superior mana that would still be retained in the body even hours after death, making them valuable resources to be used.

Sometimes Eiko wished that she was just a normal grunt. At least if she passed on, there would be something left of her to remember.

"Well then, on to matter two." Kaguro smirked as he sat lazily in his seat, propping both his legs up against the arm rest. "Bring him in."

There was a certain yell coming from the ceiling before a moment of silence passed. Seconds later, something or someone fell through a hole in the ceiling, landing in the centre platform with a sickening thud. The Black Citadel mages instantly began to jeer and curse, hurling abuse at that certain person.

"Well, I am damned," Neo growled as he lifted himself off the floor with his one remaining arm. He never expected to be here again. They were currently in a special area located in the bowels of the fortress. Unlike the rest of the castle which was dark and gloomy, this place was rather bright, being lit up by light lacrima and having white stoned walls. Overall it resembled a lot like a Gladiator's arena. To his sides were hundreds of concrete seats, currently filled to the brim with Black Citadel mages who have come to watch the punishment. Before him was single flight of steps that led to a pedestal. On it were eight stone chairs, each with a number engraved on it.

"How ironic," Neo muttered under his breath. Not too long ago, he was seated up there, watching the execution of a former Orochi member. Now it was his turn to receive judgment. Karma sure was a bitch.

Surprisingly though, not all the seats were filled, save his own. He knew Ayumi and Vale were on their mission so there were no surprises there. If anything, he was wondering why Krom's seat was empty. The old man would have definitely enjoyed watching his downfall, so it kind of puzzled him as to his absence.

There were a few additional new faces. Neo spied Muldoom standing near a stone seat, grinning maniacally as he watched on in glee. How Neo wanted to smite his expression off his face was beyond anyone's comprehension. Further to his right, he saw another member of Orochi that was rarely seen. The mage went by the name Rina and she was the youngest member amongst the Orochi.

She had long black hair that had red highlights which she tied into two low twin tails. Her thick black bangs were swept to the right side, covering her large round shaped red eyes. She had a slim but healthy figure and stood at 5'5 feet although her pale skin tone says otherwise. She was currently wearing a red black bows Lolita dress, black see through stockings with black lace, and black boot heels with laces. With the outfit, she also wore a vintage gothic black lace choker necklace with a red rose and ruby pendant dangling below the red rose and a ruby ring. Her blood red guild mark was visible on her left shoulder blade while her Orochi rank, the number eight, was currently hidden, having been imprinted on her navel.

And then there were the regulars. Balto was present, seating on his chair with one knee crossed over the other. He was never one to miss out on such "thrilling events". Standing beside him was his subordinate who went by the name Olin. Neo didn't really know much about the kid, just that he was fiercely loyal to Balto. He stood at an average 5'6 with a slightly muscular body build for someone his age. He had spiky blue hair and blood red eyes. His skin was slightly tanned and he had sharp canines, similar to Neo's own. He was currently wearing a red buttoned up shirt, red pants, a red headband and red bandages wrapped around his feet, leaving the toes and heels free. His upper body had two blue markings snaking across it, visible due to his shirt being left unbuttoned.

"Looking good Neo," Balto mocked as he called out from his seat. "Of all the people here, I thought that you would be smart enough not to fail a mission."

"Can it Balto!" Neo snapped back. "You better watch your back one of these days. Cause if you don't, you might just wound up dead."

"Is that a threat," Balto sneered, the lust for battle lingering in his eyes. "You had better know your place when you only have an arm left."

"Trust me. That's all I need to kill you." Neo growled, blood already starting to trickle down his arm. Balto's grin just grew wider at that response, a black magic circle starting to form at his feet.

"Balto behave please," Kaguro smiled at his direction, causing the other Orochi member to cancel his magic immediately. Despite that smile on his face, Balto knew better than to challenge or deny Kaguro's orders.

"Pfffft, you're such a killjoy Kaguro," Balto sighed and shrugged his shoulders, blowing his fringe out of his face as he settled back into his chair.

"Your fun will come later," Kaguro responded "warmly", for the lack of a better turn. "Let's get to business shall we? Will the accused step forward?"

Neo let down his guard temporarily when he saw Balto undo his magic but instantly froze up once more when he heard Kaguro's voice. Wordlessly, he glared in the direction of Kaguro, staring daggers at him as he acknowledged his words.

"Neo Hiruko. You are hereby found guilty of acting out of line during your mission. Your actions have caused us to not only lose the artifact to Scarlet Nova but also one of our precious comrades,"

"One that you treated less than dirt just 5 minutes earlier," Neo deadpanned but Kaguro continued nonetheless.

"As such you will be receiving punishment and as head of Orochi, I will be deciding on your fate. Which is…" Kaguro paused dramatically, waiting for the tension to build up amongst the other mages in Black Citadel.

It was pretty much certain what the others wanted at this point. The grunts were yelling for his head to roll, chanting the word death over and over like a mantra. Balto's eyes were sparkling with excitement as he awaited the judgment, believing that it would involve blood being spilt regardless. Muldoom's eyes were gleaming as well, but for another reason altogether. If Neo was going to be killed, there would be an open spot amongst the Orochi. He was damn confident that he was going to have that spot. After all, he contributed enough financial aid to the guild now didn't he? It was high time he be rewarded for his efforts.

On the other hand, Eiko and Olin watched on with disinterest. They didn't really care much about such decisions, and after watching so many of these sessions, they knew very well that Kaguro's decision was probably one that would exceed their expectations. Rina had taken to speaking with a doll she carried by her side, completely ignoring what was transpiring around her.

Subconsciously, Neo was holding his breath as he awaited Kaguro's answer, a small part of him worried about the potential outcome. After what seemed like an eternity, Kaguro spoke once more.

"The punishment would be the revoking of his rank."

"WHAT!" Balto freaked as he almost fell out of his chair. That was not supposed to happen.

"YES!" Muldoom yelled excitedly. Only when he realized that all eyes were on him did he compose himself, clearing his throat and looking nonchalant. Deep inside though, he was almost tripping himself in happiness. This was all according to his expectations.

"You have got to be kidding me, Kaguro. Why should we still keep a failure like him in Black Citadel?" Balto protested. On the ground, cheers of support for Balto's words erupted. It was clear that no one wanted to see him walk away alive from this place.

Kaguro just closed his eyes, listening as the roars of dissent grew louder by the minute. Silently, he unsheathed three blades from the palm of his right hand. That action alone made the entire crowd go quiet, fear creeping into them as they expected what was to come.

Before anyone could react, Kaguro hurled all three tips in three different directions. One at Neo, one at Balto and the last at a random member grunt in the audience.

Even with his power halved, Neo could still sense the projectile way before he could see it. Instinctively he grabbed out into the empty space before him, catching it in between his fingertips. With a twitch of his fingers he snapped it into half, a clattering sound resonating as the pieces fell to the floor.

Balto didn't even bother to move. Instead he heated his body temperature to extreme heights, causing the air around him to distort and vibrate. As soon as the blade touched his skin, it instantly vaporized and erased any proof of its existence.

Unlike the two Orochi members, the audience grunt was not so lucky. She never saw the blade coming at all. In the same second that both members stopped the attack, her head popped open like a ripe cherry, splashing blood on the walls and onto her fellow mages.

"There's your answer," Kaguro declared proudly, amidst the screams of terror from some of the grunts. "Even if he has fallen, he is still more than a match for any of you out there. Talent like his should be placed to good use instead of being wasted in the lab."

"Are you satisfied now Balto?" Kaguro asked without even turning to look at him.

"Cheh! Do as you please." Balto snorted, slightly upset by the unusual turn of events. That and the other small fact that was displayed with the small exchange between them. Neo did not even have to use his magic to stop the projectile unlike him, even though he was still weak from losing an arm. It unsettled Balto knowing that there was still a gap between them but then again, it made sense given that he was the former third.

"Well then, let us get on with business." Kaguro chirped happily. "It's time to nominate someone to take a place in Orochi."

Muldoom's eyes were gleaming, listening intently at this point. He even took out a mirror and started styling his hair and straightening his shirt, all for the sake of looking good when his name was called.

"This member has contributed greatly to our guild, providing us with resources that are hard to come by. Their magic is unique and unrivalled in its domain. Above all, they have shown great loyalty for our cause."

As Kaguro continued to list the attributes of the soon new member, Muldoom was starting to drift off into his own fantasy. He imagined his name being called, earning the cheers of approval and swooning from the grunts. What a dream, he thought to himself. Maybe they were going to start a fan club of his. He should probably start learning how to sign autographs.

"I now present to you the new member of Orochi," Kaguro started.

"It's ShowTime," Muldoom grinned, making the last few adjustments to his hair as he prepared to walk elegantly up to the platform.

"Bella Sinclair" Kaguro finished.

"WHAT!" Muldoom squealed in a high pitched voice, thankfully no one heard him.

"Yay, Bella-chan!" Rina laughed heartily as she clapped her hands and smiled. For the first time this entire session, she actually looked like she was enjoying herself.

From the end of the platform, a small white door opened up to reveal the latest addition to Orochi. Bella had short but wavy light blonde hair that reached to her shoulders with her bangs covering her forehead and some part of her round shaped ocean blue eyes. She had a healthy thin figure with a height of 5'4 feet and a creamy white colored skin tone. She was wearing a long black jacket with a white button up shirt that was underneath a blue vest, a black infinity scarf and a simple black belt holding up a black skirt with white knee high socks and black boots. She also wore a large dark blue top hat with a pair of blue goggles wrapped around it and black gloves. She walked confidently towards the pedestal, bowing ever so slightly as she stood before Kaguro.

"Thank you, Sir" she said gently as she paid her respects to the Orochi leader.

"Do your best then," Kaguro grinned. "Is there any one that objects to her?"

There were murmurs amongst the grunts but as quickly as they came, they died down just as fast. Apparently no one was willing to speak up.

And then there was Muldoom.

"Kaguro sir! I object to her! Who the hell is she! I haven't seen her before in my entire career here!" Muldoom protested in anger, upset that a "nobody" just stole his spot in the Orochi.

Too bad that "nobody" was actually a "somebody". Muldoom caught the hint when the rest of the Orochi members started smirking and laughing.

"What's so funny!" he growled.

"You are!" Balto cackled with laughter, rolling about in his seat as he tried to suppress it. Even the stone face Olin was trying hard not to laugh and Rina was just giggling away. Muldoom had a look of confusion on his face, not knowing what the hell was going on."

Neo just sighed at his stupidity, deciding to explain things for once.

"Bella joined earlier than you jackass and she is almost never around the base, which probably explains why none of you have ever seen her. She's Rina's subordinate and she is tasked with information gathering in Fiore since she has a clean background. All the artifacts we have found thus far have been all thanks to her."

"So what!" Muldoom yelled. "That only shows she can gather information. I bet you that I can take her head on in combat! Someone that cannot fight should not be a part of Orochi!"

"Let's test that out shall we?" Kaguro smirked as he snapped his fingers. Balto instantly got up from his seat, a savage smile on his face as he walked up behind Muldoom.

"Wait, what?" Muldoom barely had anytime to register what was going to happen when Balto grabbed him by the collar and hurled him down onto the platform. Muldoom landed with a sickening thud, grimacing as he rubbed his sore head.

"Rina? May I?" Bella turned to her former master for advice. Rina just nodded her head slightly. "You may go all out. Do your best Bella-chan!"

"Yes," Bella replied simply before she leapt off as well. Unlike Muldoom, she landed gracefully onto the platform, her face maintain a calm look as she turned to face Muldoom.

"The winner of this fight gets to be the latest addition to Orochi." Kaguro declared elatedly. What better way to show off her strength and earn some respect than thru combat.

"I don't wish to hurt you," Bella said kindly, sincerely hoping that she did not have to settle this with a fight. "Please leave while you still can."

"Well I do," Muldoom snapped back, green magic circles appearing at his fingertips already. Thrusting both palms sideways, he called out the name of his spell.

"Emotion magic: Sway" He called out, firing thinly veiled green gas at some of the grunts seated near him. Those impacted by the gas instantly had green marks around their eyes, indicating that they were already under his influence. Originally silent, they suddenly became extremely aggressive, hurling words of abuse at Bella and some even throwing random objects at her. Against it, Bella seemed rather impasse. She merely just stared back and occasionally moved out of the way to avoid impending objects.

"Really? What a cheap trick." Olin muttered under his breath as he watched Muldoom's magic unfold. What was he trying to do? Scare her into losing the fight?

"Agreed," Balto nodded. Muldoom made a wrong choice in participating. His magic was not meant for direct confrontation. While it was true that his magic could influence others to do the fighting for him, it only worked on those who were weak in the mind. And it had a limited sphere of influence as well.

"Not fazing you? Then let's try something a little bit more aggressive. Emotion Magic: Amplification" Muldoom sneered, firing a more thick coat of gas at the grunts. As the green lines spread further down their cheeks, they suddenly grew more aggressive as well. While some of them drew their weapons and charged for Bella, others began firing bolts of elemental magic. Muldoom too drew a lacrima tazer from his back pocket and started firing off short sparks at Bella, hoping to stun her.

Bella just sighed slightly at the futile attempt. Spinning her index finger, she generated a small golden magic circle above her right palm. She waited, patiently observing the movements of her opponents as she calculated her odds of getting out unscathed.

"5 seconds. Chances of injury: 12%" she finally deduced.

With that, she moved.

As the first three grunts neared, she darted nimbly past each one of them, gently tapping the floor three times. As soon as she passed them, she tuned and landed a swift kick to each of their backs, sending them spiraling forward. The next four came charging with swords, hoping to use the range to their advantage. But even so Bella was still too quick for them. At the first sword thrust, she instantly leapt onto the blade and ran down it, kicking its wielder in the face. As the grunt toppled, she placed her palm against his face, smashing his head cavity into the platform. At this point, she tapped the ground once again. Although her back was faced against the next three grunts, she could still hear their footsteps clearly. She spun around instinctively, knocking all three of them off their feet.

And then came the magic blasts. Like a bee among flowers, Bella gracefully danced through the shower of mana, not even getting a stain on her clothes. While Bella managed to evade all of them, she could not escape the dust cloud that kicked up as a result of the explosions. It was at that moment did Muldoom choose to strike, charging in with his tazer. The surprise attack caught Bella off guard, allowing Muldoom to strike her squarely in the gut. Even so, Bella did not do so much as wince despite the huge current flowing through her body. Instead she simply cart wheeled backwards and out of the dust cloud, touching the ground thrice as she did so.

"Heh! Running away?" Muldoom jeered, having gotten cocky after that last attack. "Surrender and I might just spare you."

"There's no need for that," Bella replied with a smile.

"Huh?"

"The match has been decided already," she chirped as she snapped her fingers.

Instantly, seven golden magic circles appeared beneath Muldoom and the grunts. Muldoom's face instantly turned to confusion, glancing around in panic.

"That bitch! When did she plant those?" he growled angrily but it was no use now. The moment he saw the circles glowing, he knew the game was up

"Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot" Bella called out.

The magic seals instantly connected with one another, forming a type of constellation. The next moment, powerful beams of light erupted from each seal, consuming almost the entire arena. Almost all the grunts that were blasted flew right smack into the ceiling, embedded in the thick walls of concrete from the impact. Muldoom on the other hand was slammed straight against the stairwell, a sickening crunch coming from his midsection.

"Fuck!" Muldoom cursed aloud as he felt a bone or two snap. He tried getting up, only to realize that his legs were broken, causing him to land flat on his face. This was not how things were supposed to go.

"Well I guess that concludes things," Kaguro announced. "The winner of this match has been decided."

"No wait! I can still fight…" Muldoom yelled, only for it to turn into a sharp scream when Balto leapt from his seat and dive kicked him in the chest.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Muldoom shrieked in agony as he felt his ribs shatter. Getting hit by the spell was one thing, but Balto's strength was another case on its own. The man had been known to snap trees with simple punches and now he was on the end of his beating stick.

"Don't be a sore loser Muldoom," Balto smirked as he grinded his foot further into Muldoom's chest. "If you really want to keep fighting, I will be your opponent."

"No no no no no, please no!" Muldoom pleaded, his hands desperately grabbing at Balto's foot as he tried to escape. "I surrender. Please let me off! I beg you!"

"Tch! Coward." Balto snorted in disgust as he removed his foot from Muldoom's chest, kicking him down the stairs and back onto the platform. The Emotion mage yelped with pain and curled into a ball, lying very still in a corner of the platform.

"Now then, let us welcome our new member of Orochi, Bella." Kaguro announced gleefully.

This time, the entire arena resonated with cheers and yells of support.

 **Within Aggra**

"What's this," Vale grimaced as he suddenly felt a singe of pain on his chest. Or to be more precise, on his breastplate. It felt as though something searing hot was moving on it and it made Vale very uncomfortable just thinking about it.

He instinctively thought that some of the acid may have dripped in from a leak on Aggra, but when he took a quick glance around, he spotted no signs of the foul green liquid. Instead, his eyes caught notice of the pale light emanating from his chest plate.

Before his eyes, he watched as the snake mark on it came alive, twisting and thrashing about as it freed itself from the number it was conformed to. With a savage hiss, it began coiling into a new number before dying down and disappearing back into a mere mark. This time, Vale's number read the number six, instead of the former seven that was on it seconds ago.

"So it seems we have a new addition to our ranks," Vale remarked softly, though it was clear enough for Ayumi to take notice of. She nodded slightly in agreement, having noticed the change as well. The Orochi mark under her eye now read the number three, having been upgraded as well.

"Neo has fallen too," Ayumi replied emotionlessly as she observed the former Orochi's rank from the window's reflection. While they hardly got along or worked together, Ayumi respected the mage for his strength. For him to be defeated was something that she did not expect at the least. Despite so, she would be lying to say that she was secretly thrilled. It meant that there were stronger mages within the guild and that made her all the more excited for their upcoming fight.

On the end of the Scarlet Nova mages, they were getting pumped up too, though for different reasons. After travelling for about an hour or so, they finally caught sight of their final destination. As happy as they were to finally get some action done, they were also increasingly worried with what they were seeing.

"Did they say where exactly the artifact was supposed to be located?" Blitz asked, his eyes never leaving the window.

"Nope. They just mentioned that it is inside Morgoth, that's all." Asuna replied as she turned the map over and over, hoping to find any secret hints that they may have overlooked. No matter what she did, the image on the map did not change. The golden dot on the word Morgoth kept blinking, indicating that the artifact was indeed within the city.

"Well guys, we might have a problem." Hanaku declared, her eyes clouded with worry at the scene unfolding outside the window.

"You mean a big problem," Judar gulped nervously.

From where they were, they could finally see the city of Morgoth. When Judar said it was a big problem that was a major understatement. The city of Morgoth was freaking gigantic, easily covering the size of a small country. From what they could see, the city was resting against the ocean floor, a clear dome engulfing it. Within the dome, the mages could barely make out the black concrete floors and buildings, as well as the orange dots of lights that they presumed to be street lights. The outermost rim of the city was lined with pale sheets of metal, serving as the foundation that held the structure firmly in place. Oval like doors were located across each sheet, presumably the entrances to the city. What was most surprising though was the presence of what looked like clouds and a miniature sun in the centre of the dome. Even in the depths of the acid ocean, it still shone with enough light to illuminate the entire city, providing the mages with a clear view of the structure as well.

"It looks so…ancient…" Flora breathed, noting the trails of algae along the walls and that some of the sheets were cracking or had already started to corrode. While they all knew that the acid was deadly, for a city to be built underneath it, it had to be able to withstand the toxicity and immense pressure. For the city to show such signs was as testament to its age and establishment.

"That's the last of our worries now is it," Gemma spoke, her eyes widening slightly with each passing second. They were still miles away from it and the city still seemed to be growing bigger in size as they neared it. Just how the hell were they supposed to locate the artifact amongst all that? It would take god knows how long just to comb a portion of the city, let alone the whole place.

"Aggra, what is this place?" Aiden asked.

"Morgoth is known as the City of the Forgotten. That's because it was a place whereby all condemned criminals were sent to in the past. All those who committed heinous crimes were all sentenced to life imprisonment here, written off from the annals of human existence. That's also partially why the place is so big. Most of those sent here had extremely destructive powers and were all ranked S-class and above. This was essentially their playground. They could do anything in there but leave. Consider it the Council's last act of humanity towards them."

"You mean," Gemma swallowed nervously, "We are going to have to fight for our lives in there against monsters and still find the artifact? That's plain suicidal."

"Relax kiddo." Aggra growled. "That was over a hundred years ago. The place is now just a city for regular criminals to live and stay in. They are way more docile than those monsters and probably won't even bother fighting or killing you. If anything, they welcome outsiders since they bring profit and entertainment to the city. It's probably one of the most profitable places to get weapons and rare metals these days too."

"It still doesn't change the fact that it's a city full of criminals." Asuna deadpanned.

"Nor that we have to search for the artifact in it." Blitz added on.

"But still, at least we don't have to search for it in pitch darkness." Hanaku shrugged, hoping to find something positive to talk about. "That artificial sun helps a lot."

"Yeah, right." Aggra snorted.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"That thing is a living time bomb lady," Aggra smirked. "If things get chaotic beyond control down there, that thing wills self destruct and level anything that moves within the city. If you don't die from the explosion, the acid pouring from the cracked dome or the sudden pressure change will."

"Great, just another list of ways to die." Judar remarked sarcastically as he slumped back into chair. This was suicidal after all. They probably shouldn't have come along n the first place.

"Aggra, you dropped Master Glaive and the artifact somewhere in the city before right?" Aiden inquired. "Do you know where the Council hid the artifact?"

"Can't say I do. Your master and I were only permitted to escort them to the central part of the city before being asked to leave. If you want to start, you should probably head there."

"That's the first piece of good news I heard all day. At least our search scope is narrowed," Blitz grinned. This would really aid in speeding up their tracking down of the artifact.

Or at least that was what they thought.

Unknown to them, Black Citadel was already one step ahead in that aspect.

"Remember the plan," Vale briefed the other members. "All are to split up and report to the Coliseum immediately upon arrival. If anyone happens to get lost, head to the observatory in the leftmost part of the city. Our liaison will be there waiting." The rest of them nodded wordlessly as they acknowledged.

"All according to plan," Vale reported to Ayumi after the briefing. "If anything, we can make sure that they do not participate in the tournament. If they try to interfere after it has started, the Gatekeepers will deal with them."

"Mmph," Ayumi muttered, her attention elsewhere once more. Nothing will get in their way of completing their master plan.

If there was, she would destroy it without hesitation.

 **Within Morgoth**

"Well, I wish you all the best in your quest." Aggra growled as he let the mages out of his mouth. They were currently in the central port of Morgoth, the same location where he delivered Master Glaive 20 years ago.

"Thanks Aggra," all the mages quipped, glad that they were able to meet an old acquaintance of the Master. To top that off, he provided them with valuable information.

As they watched Aggra descend back into the depths, Aiden started to take in his surroundings. Just as the color suggested from afar, the city was mostly covered in black tiles and houses. Orange lacrima lamps decorated the streets and acted as lights when the artificial sun had set just like now. What was most surprising though was the amount of sounds and smells that were assaulting him from all over. For a Criminal City, he was pretty sure it would be very depressing and yet he was getting totally different vibes here. It seemed very lively and was bustling with business. It was as though he was standing back in Akaba district in Valgore, minus the black buildings.

"Well, I guess we should get started. Even if we have a general idea of where it is, this place is still bloody big. It could be anywhere." Judar quipped as he fiddled with his headband.

"Yeah. Let's not forget that we have Black Citadel right on our tails as well." Asuna added. It was very awkward and frightening to have their foes so close by. If not for their certain sense of chivalry, they might have all been sleeping with the fishes already.

"By the way, where is Black Citadel?" Gemma questioned.

Instantly all the mages began to look around frantically in search of their enemies. By some weird chance or luck, none of them were around. It was as though they had all vanished into thin air.

"They were just here seconds ago," Hanaku protested, having watched them exit from Aggra as well. "There's no way they could have ran off. It's almost impossible to find your way around this colossus."

"All the more we should start moving. If they are already gone, it means that they have a head start. Worse, they might already know where the artifact is." Blitz mentioned as he began loading his lacrima into his pockets. It was best to be prepared for a fight. Who knows where they might spawn from in this gigantic labyrinth of a city?

"He's right," Aiden commented. "Let's get going." Now that they were out of danger, the truce between him and Vale no longer held so they had better keep their guard up. There was nothing stopping Black Citadel from attacking them at this point so it would pay to be extremely cautious.

Just as the mages were about to depart, they were immediately stopped by a figure cloaked in black. Instinctively, magic circles started to flare, most of them believing that he was a member of Black Citadel.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Easy with the magic! I'm just a promoter!" the figure protested, raising both hands up. As he did, Gemma caught sight of the brown rags that all prisoners wore, allowing her to relax slightly.

"He's not one of them," she announced, causing sighs of relief from the rest of her team.

"Welcome to Morgoth, dear travelers," the figure started with a raspy voice, rubbing his hands together as he spoke. "May I introduce you to the Black Market District? It's the best place for buying forbidden items and spoils of war."

"No thanks, we aren't interested." Aiden declined politely, attempting to find an excuse to leave but the figure continued to ramble on.

"What about the Red Light District. We have the finest broods from all over Fiore and some even from Alvarez…"

"Excuse you! That's rude and disgusting!" Gemma snarled as she glared daggers at the figure. Hanaku and Asuna both shared the same look as her, and if looks could kill, said figure would have withered there and then.

"Well…what about the coliseum? It's a good place for entertainment and to hone your skills. If you win, you might have a chance to pull something good out of the prize wheel."

"Listen, bub," Judar growled, "we really are in a hurry here so we aren't really interested in your stuff. Let us through man or we will have to do it by force."

"Ok, ok, ok." The figure whimpered as he finally stepped aside to let the mages pass. "At least take a flyer." He then proceeded to shove a piece of torn paper into Blitz's hands before taking his leave, vanishing into the shadows of another corner.

"Alright then, let's get going." Asuna declared. They had wasted enough time on that shrouded figure and time was really not on their side right now.

Just as the group proceeded to move out, Blitz suddenly called out from the back of the group.

"Guys, we should really go to the coliseum."

"Blitz, you know we are short on time. We can't afford to make any side stops." Gemma retorted but Blitz shook his head frantically, his eyes still glued to the flyer that the figure handed out.

"I'm dead serious. That's exactly where we should be going right now."

That got everyone's attention. The group began walking back towards their teammate, curious at his sudden insistence at visiting the coliseum. When they finally laid eyes on the flyer, they instantly drew the same conclusion as him.

There, shown as one of the prizes of the coliseum, was a black sword handle with red runes.

It was none other than the artifact that they were seeking for, the handle of Nulgath.

 **Clover Town, Guild Masters' Meeting**

"This is an outrage! How many times have Scarlet Nova caused trouble for us!" One particular guild master shouted across the table.

"That is true," another echoed. "When we approved your setting up of a guild a decade ago, we were hoping that you could rein them in given your experience. And yet you let them run amok, just like back when you were in Fairy Tail."

"Now, now," Makarov spoke up, "There's no need to point fingers gentlemen. Glaive is not completely at fault this time. It may be true that his mages are as rowdy as mine, but that doesn't mean that they are the cause for all the trouble."

"Has age blinded your eyes Makarov?" a younger guild master snarled. "Look at all the company he has brought back. Let's not even get started on Sparda and Harbringer but even his two other S-class mages have a knack for violence."

"Don't forget the half-breed that he released into the wild nine years ago. He is a threat and we all know it, yet he allowed him to roam free without any restraint." A female guild master quipped, glaring arrogantly at Glaive.

"Johann is not a threat and neither is the rest of my family," Glaive growled, slamming both his hands on the table, causing the rest of his colleagues to recoil. Having kept silent this entire time, he simply could not stand them insulting his kin any further. "This is an enemy none of us have faced before. Instead of finding whose fault this lies in, we should be discussing our next move."

"Heh, you mean your move," a guild master snorted. "The enemy has clearly declared war on Scarlet Nova when they left that message during the raid on Era. This has nothing to do with the rest of us."

"Have you forgotten what they are capable off?" Makarov snapped, "They instantly leveled Sand Dune City, a place that had no affiliation to any of us. If you seriously think that they will leave the rest of us in peace, you are dead wrong!"

"So what do you suggest, Makarov, Glaive?" Bob, Master of Blue Pegasus spoke up. Next to him, Goldmine and Ooba nodded their heads in agreement. This was not a time for arguing, but rather finding a way to stop this crisis.

There was a moment of silence as Glaive collected his thoughts. In the next moment, he finally spoke, having come to a decision.

"Nothing," he started, causing gasps of shock and anger to reverberate across the table. "All guilds will continue operations as per usual."

"You must be out of your mind!"

"Madness!"

"You are as senile as your age suggests it seems."

"Everyone please calm down," Glaive pleaded, "Please let me finish."

For a moment, the other guild masters quieted down, allowing Glaive to continue.

"What I meant was for the guilds to continue operations so as to not rouse any suspicions. The attack on Sand Dune City was well planned. It knew exactly when Scarlet Nova was going to appear and ambushed us prior to our arrival. If we make any big movements now, it would be all the easier for Black Citadel to plan counter measures. So I suggest that we all operate from the shadows, watching for any signs of activity and quietly dispatching more mages to guard the artifacts, wherever they may be located."

Murmurs of agreement flowed across the table, a sign that the plan had certain logic behind it and that they were willing to follow it. However, not all the guild masters were appeased just yet.

"You seriously can't trust him, can you? He's the one who let Sparda and Harbringer out of their cells. They're even S-class mages now!"

"Are you suggesting that our security is lax Glaive? You had better watch what you are suggesting."

"Big words coming from the guy who failed to save his entire team 20 years ago,"

That last comment did not go unnoticed by those involved in that incident, no matter how soft it was. Instantly, Makarov leapt from his seat, his forehead bulging with veins as he glared at the insensible youngster. It was one thing insulting his former guild mate, but raking up that incident was a no go for him.

Glaive was taking things way worse, though it wasn't visible for all to see. Instead, they felt it, in the form of sweltering temperatures. The air in the room instantly dried up as temperatures spiked. The floor around Glaive was starting to turn to slush already and the seat he was seated on had long hardened and began disintegrating already. As Glaive stood up, the chair instantly turned to ash, causing gasps of horror and fear to come from those seated near him. Despite the calm feature on his face, it was clear that Glaive's eyes withheld a storm of emotions. Some anger, some fear but mostly sadness.

Too bad it was rage that was welling up within him right now.

"What did you say punk," Glaive muttered in a deathly whisper, his right hand already reaching for the ethereal chains that limited his magic. "I dare you to repeat it again."

Luckily for that young guild master, a root shot out from beneath the ground and wrapped itself around him, strangling him out of breath. All eyes instantly turned to the person seated behind Glaive, the owner of that particular magic. It was none other than Caillace Fleur, her left hand currently glowing with a green magic circle.

"Stand down Glaive. Or you're gonna kill everyone in this room." Caillace said as she walked forward, placing a hand on Glaive's back. The last thing she needed now was another catastrophe, one that involved the murder of the other 20 guild masters seated in the room.

Glaive took in a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. He was on the verge of bursting and if Caillace did not interfere, he was sure he would have slaughtered that younger guild master. Slowly, he released his grip on the ethereal chains, letting his arms slide back down. With that, the temperature in the room began to regulate once more, making the rest of them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Listen well, younglings and listen good." Caillace growled, her voice lacking its usual motherly tone. "That day was a day none of us could ever forget for as long as we live. Although we have won the fight, the cost was way too great for either of us to bear. Dear Glaive here lost his wife in that fight and I would suggest you to never mention this again, lest you want to meet her and apologize in person."

The young guild master frantically nodded his head, his face already turning purple from the lack of oxygen. Taking that as a somewhat satisfactionary answer, Caillace released her magic. The young guild master began to breathe haphazardly, afraid for losing his life.

"Thank you," Glaive muttered quietly as Caillace passed him, returning to her seat.

"That's what comrades are for," she smiled slightly in acknowledgement.

"Well, now that everything's out of the way let's run through the important stuff." Another guild master added with a scowl on his face, eager to leave the room already. "Based on the data collected from the ruins at Sand Dune City and the attack on the Magic Council, we have put together a possible list of mages that could have…"

Before the guild master could finish his sentence, a black katana pierced him through the head. With a swift flick, the guild master's body was spilt cleanly in half, his sides pouring blood as they fell.

"I'm afraid I can't let you have that list." An ominous voice echoed from outside the window.

With a shatter of glass, a cloaked figure burst into the room, causing shrills and screams to erupt from the rest of the guild masters who had just watched their colleague get murdered up close and personal. The figure then proceeded to remove his katana from the seat, simultaneously keeping the list on the table into his breast pocket.

"It would be bad news if the runts can't get into places they need now can they? After all they have a job to complete and Kaguro won't be pleased if they fail." Krom grinned as he unveiled his hood, showing his face to the rest of the world.

"No way,"

"Why him?"

Cries of panic ensued as the older members of the guild masters recognized Krom. They weren't so shocked about the fact that he was still alive but rather afraid that he had joined Orochi instead.

For Glaive, it was yet another trip down memory lane as he gazed at the man before him.

15 years ago, they were colleagues, working on making the magic world a better place.

10 years ago, he was one of the few who wished him all the best on his new journey.

8 years ago, he heard he resigned and went rogue, never to be seen again.

And now, he finally reappeared, standing before him not as a friend but as an enemy.

An enemy that he really did not wish to fight.

"It's been a long time Krom," Glaive started, the temperature of the room heating up once more as he assumed a battle stance. "Under normal circumstances, I would have been glad to see you."

"Indeed," Krom smiled sadly as he too drew his katana at ready. "I really wished that I could have that last cup coffee you offered me."

 **A/N** : _Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite._

 _Death Obelisk signing off._


	16. Reboot?

**A/N:** _Hi guys! It's me, Death Obelisk. Sorry for being AFK over the past half a year. School life is really tough and hectic so I had desynced my fan fiction account from my personal email. As a result I didn't manage to respond to some of your Pms which I truly am sorry for. I have an important announcement to make though and I really need your opinions on this. So recently I was re-reading Scarlet Nova and I realized I kinda lost touch with my own story already. Most of the ideas I had initially somehow just did not flow naturally anymore. In addition, I realized most of my OCs' creators are now AFK also, making it hard for me to contact them. As such, I am currently contemplating as to whether I should reboot Scarlet Nova. I do apologize for announcing this on a short notice, especially since some of you have sent me elaborate plans for your OC's future in the story. So please do tell me what you guys think via the reviews or PM because it really means a lot to me and will help me make a better decision. Assuming the story does get a reboot, I will reopen OC submissions again but the story will only officially commence at the start of December, so that gives you guys about 2-3 months to redo or submit new characters while I finish up my national exams that are in the month of November. Those who have submitted OC characters for Scarlet Nova get priority reservations while those that submitted for Black Citadel come next. More details will be announced later. Once again, do share your thoughts, so I can make this story even better for everyone._

 _Death Obelisk out_


	17. Goodbye and Thank You

**A/N:** _Heya guys, Death Obelisk here. I'm just gonna keep things short here since the real action is gonna start somewhere else. That's right! The reboot is gonna be a go! Thanks again for all your valuable opinions and feedback for what I should do. Really helped to clear my head a bunch. To all followers and readers of this story, thanks for the continued support all this while. Really hope you guys can continue to support the reboot when it's up. OC reservations have also begun, so do PM me if you want a spot saved in the reboot Priority goes to Scarlet Nova and then after Black Citadel. More details regarding the OC form will be unveiled in the reboot. Once again, see yall in the reboot and don't forget to favourite and review._

 _Death Obelisk Out_


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